Decisions
by dandi706
Summary: Crossover w Yu Yu Hakusho, KuramaKagome. On hold. Naraku is defeated and the jewel is completed. Kagome, Kikyou, and Midoriko share the same soul. Kagome is adopted as Sess and Inu's sister. Someone plans to use the jewel to bring Naraku back in the futur
1. Prologue

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters associated with it. Rumiko Takahashi does. At least I think she owns it. I don't know that she owns all of it but I don't know who does if there is someone else. This will be a blanket disclaimer because, while I do put a disclaimer at the first of each chapter, I don't put that Rumiko Takahashi owns it.

**Summary**: Sango, Miroku, and Rin are captured by Naraku. Inuyasha, Shippo, Kirara, Koga, Sesshomaru, and Jaken are absorbed into Naraku. Naraku says that he will release them if Kagome becomes his minion for one year. What will Kagome do? This summary is only for a few chapters. After that you can just read and find out.

**Warning:** SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! I don't really know up until what episode so if you don't want to know what happens, then don't read it. There might not be many but I really don't pay attention to what I'm putting in here from the show. I know that I do put certain things in from the show, but not up to what point. I don't think that this will ruin the show for anyone because I haven't seen the entire thing myself. I may even change some of the facts and events of the show. I know that I'm going to add some stuff. This goes for any other show that I may bring into this fic. I will elaborate at a later date if I decide to make it a crossover.

**WARNING:** This fic is rated M or R for a reason. This fic **_will_** contain LEMONS or extreme sexual situations, whatever you want to call them. If this kind of thing offends you, then don't read it. Some will be so ingrained in the story that you will not be able to avoid them and I won't always mark them after the first time. There are going to be a lot of them so it would be too time consuming. They are not until later chapters though. And please try to be nice when you tell me that they suck (sometimes literally. Ahem, ignore that.) Just make a comment telling me to work on them if you think that they were bad.

**Author's Note:** I would like to dedicate this fic to Deviation (a.k.a. Deviant Nature for She gave me permission to use some of her ideas and terms in my story. I don't know if I will actually use them, but it was nice of her let me anyway. If I do use them, I will make a note of it. She is a really great writer. You guys should really read her story _By Any Other Name_ (title on this site) _Par Tout Autre Nom_ (title on Mediaminer). It is not finished yet, but it will take you forever to read all that she has already (on Word it's about 831 pages). She is not updating at the moment because she is waiting for Ookami to finish her fics, because that is where she got some of her ideas, but, don't worry, she's not abandoning it! Just putting it on hold for a while.

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Prologue 

"NO! Inuyasha! Shippo! Kirara!" Naraku laughed as he absorbed Kagome's demon friends along with Sesshomaru and Jaken. Sango and Miroku looked up from fighting Kagura, Kanna, and Naraku's other demons. They stopped fighting and stared in shock as Naraku absorbed their friends. While they were distracted, Kagura snuck up behind them and knocked them out and tied them up. They already had Sesshomaru's ward Rin. Koga had been absorbed before they got there because he thought that he could take Naraku on his own and impress and protect Kagome in the process.

Kagome could only watch in shock as all her friends and temporary allies were taken. "Naraku give them back! I swear, I won't stop hunting you until you release them!"

Naraku laughed and said, "I will release them only if you agree to be mine for a year. At the end of that year I will release your friends. I'll give you until sun rise exactly one week from today to think it over. I want you to have plenty of time to think about life without your friends." With that he and his minions rose to the sky and left in a cloud of miasma.

Kagome could only watch, crying helplessly. "What will I do?"

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Hoped you liked it. Don't be too hard on me, it's my first fic.

Did you guys know that they won't let you put site names on this site? It gave me fits trying to edit this to get it to say what I wanted it to before I figured that out.


	2. Chapter 1

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters associated with it.

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Chapter One

--Night--

_What will I do?_

Kagome just sat in the same spot that she had fallen when Naraku had taken her friends. She had cried for an hour before she had run out of tears. Now her throat was hurting so bad that she couldn't cry anymore. She couldn't even talk, not that she had anyone to talk to. All her friends were captured or absorbed. With this thought she wanted to start crying again, but she realized that she couldn't just sit there crying. She had to figure out what she was going to do.

Kagome tried to come up with a plan but instead started thinking about all the adventures that she had had since she met Inuyasha and the rest of her friends. They had helped to save a lot of innocent people from Naraku and other demons. They had even saved some demons from people. They had all done a lot of good and now Naraku wanted Kagome to be part of the evil that threatened all the innocents out there or else lose her friends forever. _What_ was she going to do?

Again she started thinking about all of her friends and what they stood for. She loved them all _so_ much. They were all so good and kind…well, for the most part.

Kagome realized that there was really only one choice.

With her course of action decided upon, she went to prepare. She gathered all of her friend's weapons, including Tetsusaiga. She had a lot to do. She had to talk to Kaede and then she had to go home for a little while.

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I know that it's short, but there is a reason for stopping here. I apologize but I'm just going with the flow of the story. 


	3. Chapter 2

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters associated with it.

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Chapter Two

--The Next Week, Sun Rise—

Kagome stood by herself at the spot where the battle with Naraku had taken place the week before. She had changed from her normal school uniform into a form fitting black outfit that would not restrict her movements. She had her bow, a huge quiver full of arrows, Miroku's Shakujo (staff) and some sutras, Songo's Hiraikotsu, and Tetsusaiga. She thought about what she had to do as she waited for Naraku to show.

Suddenly, in a cloud of miasma, Naraku appeared in front of her. "So Kagome, what is your decision? Not that you really have a choice. If you don't join me, your friends will die."

"You're right. There is only one choice that I can make. I love my friends. They could not live with themselves if I did this just so that they would be free. I couldn't live with my self. No matter what, I could never betray everything that we believe in. None of them would want me to join you, no matter what happens to them. Plus, I don't think that you would let them or me go in just a year."

Naraku just laughed. "You are right about that. I have already killed your human friends. I was going to take your heart like Kagura and use that to control you. I would have the whole Shikon-No-Tama. With the jewel I can do anything, including take over the world. You wouldn't have been safe no matter what you did…but I still want you, reincarnation of Kikyo." Naraku's eyes turned red with lust.

In the back of her mind, Kagome was repulsed by him but she was just too overwhelmed with the loss of her friends to really care about what Naraku had in mind for her. She would die before she let him take her anyway. Tears were falling down her cheeks as Kagome unsheathed Tetsusaiga and stabbed it into the ground in front of her. She then raised her bow and arrow and aimed at Naraku. She had suspected that he would have already killed them in a far corner of her mind, but to know that it was true for sure saddened her immensely.

"Wh-WHAT are you doing?! Have you forgotten that your only remaining friends are inside me?"

"No, but I know them well enough to say that they would rather die than be a part of you for one second longer." With that Kagome started rapidly shooting her arrows at Naraku, almost faster than he could avoid them. While Naraku was dodging arrows, Kagome quickly picked up Hiraikotsu, which was covered in sutras and flung the boomerang and went back to firing arrows. The boomerang was glowing pink with Kagome's miko power. Hiraikotsu did not go towards Naraku, but when it returned it went straight through Naraku's unguarded back and split him in two, purifying most of him. Just as Kagome was about to grab Miroku's Shakujo, one of Naraku's tentacles came charging toward her and would have stabbed her if Tetsusaiga had not let out a pulse and Naraku's tentacle came into contact with the barrier that Kagome had learned to make with Tetsusaiga. Kagome purified the tentacle and then ran up to Naraku and let out a burst of purification energy, channeled through Miroku's Shakujo, and purified all of his parts. Kagome sank to her knees, almost totally out of energy. She picked up Naraku's portion of the jewel. As she examined the tainted jewel, she felt something grab her ankle. She looked down and saw one of Naraku's hands clutching her ankle. Using the staff, she knocked the hand from her and slammed the end of the staff down on the hand with a burst of purification energy. She quickly did a search of the surrounding area to make sure no more Naraku parts were waiting to jump out at her and then she leaned against a tree at the edge of the clearing that reminded her of the God Tree at her shrine and near the well.

"Well, that was anticlimactic. He didn't even bring any of his youkai hord." She had a sick suspicion as to why he hadn't but she _really_ didn't want to think about _that_ with _him_. She looked at the jewel tiredly, hardly able to believe that something so small could cause so much trouble. She barely had enough energy to purify it, much less fuse it with her piece. As soon as the jewel glowed a pure pink with her energy, she passed out.

Naraku was no more…but so were her friends.

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So, what did you think? More to come.

Did you guys know what Naraku's name means in English? It means "hell" or "abyss" but it can also mean "theater basement." Just thought that that was funny. If you don't believe me check it out at **Wikipedia.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters associated with it.

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Chapter Three

---A Few Hours Later---

Kagome was startled awake by someone yelling above her. She wanted to tell the person to not be so loud but decided that it would hurt too much. She looked around and saw that she had somehow found her way to a tree before passing out from loss of energy. She concentrated for a moment and determined that, while she wasn't up to her full strength just yet, she did have a little energy.

"YOU, GIRL!" Wake up!" Kikyo demanded. "Where is Inuyasha?!"

Kagome looked away and bit her lip, suddenly forgetting all about her headache. "He died in the fight with Naraku."

Kikyo looked shocked. "He can't die. He hasn't suffered nearly enough! He is supposed to be dragged to Hell with me!"

For some reason, Kagome finally got it as she stared at Kikyo, who was still ranting and raving about the fact that the pleasure of dragging Inuyasha to Hell with her had been denied. Maybe it was all that soul searching she did in the week before, maybe it was her speech to Naraku, but she finally understood what was wrong with Kikyo. She had always wondered why she couldn't begin to understand someone who was once a part of her own soul. She understood the Kikyo that everyone described to her before Naraku came into being. She even understood why she sealed Inuyasha. But she had never been able to understand how someone so full of love and kindness in life could be so full of hatred and bitterness now. Especially toward someone who was as much of a victim of Naraku's deceit as she was. But now Kagome finally understood.

Kagome pushed herself up into sitting position with a little effort. "Kikyo I finally figured something out. I guess while Naraku was around I was too distracted to really think about it but it was always there, staring me in the face. Although I denied being anything like you, we have to be similar. We share the same soul, so you are a part of me. I always wondered how someone who had been a part of me for almost my entire life could be such a mystery to me. I saw flashes of the person that you used to be when you helped out in villages, but then you would show up and cause trouble for us. It was almost as if you had split personalities. But I know me and, like it or not, you were a part of me for years, throughout all of our past lives up until now, so I know you too. You would never try to hurt others as you do now. You wouldn't use innocent girls' souls and condemn them just so that you could stay 'alive' to carry out your vengeance. It's just like I told Naraku, I couldn't live with myself if I hurt innocent people for my own selfish reasons. I know now why I never understood you…the part of my soul that animates your body was contaminated. First it was done by that old ogress, then with every soul that you took from your soul catchers took, it was further contaminated. You are not _you_. It is just like the shikon shards that have been with Naraku for so long. The evil that you surrounded yourself with turned your soul black. You might have been able to purify it yourself if you had more than just a small part of a soul, but the tiny bit that you have was not enough to fight the evil that corrupted it. I know that you are still good Kikyo…please let me help you be the person that you once were. Then you wouldn't have to go to Hell. Please, let me help you by purifying your soul. I don't have the energy to do it if you don't help me." Kagome was close to tears as she pleaded with Kikyo to let her help.

Kikyo just stood there for a moment, struggling with the darkness inside her. Kikyo knew that her reincarnation was right, she had always suspected it in the corner of her mind, but the darkness didn't want to be purified. _It is a trick. She just wants you to let your guard down so that she can kill you. She knows that she couldn't take you in a fair battle, so she wants to trick you. KILL her before she gets the chance!_ Kikyo struggled with the dark voice inside her head. It didn't help that the darkness sounded so convincing. _Why_ do dark thoughts always sound so reasonable at the time?

Kagome could see Kikyo struggling with herself. "Kikyo, you should know that I don't have it in me to kill you, anymore than you have it in you to kill me. You have had a lot of chances to do so before, but you never did. I may be naïve, but I don't think that you were trying very hard. If one of us killed the other, it would be like killing our self. We are a part of each other. We are the same person. The only thing that separates us is time and only our different experiences make us different, although we do seem to have _very_ different personalities, I mean you have no sense of humor…but back to the point. When you get down to our very essence we are the same. You know that I could never hurt you. I trust you. Will you trust me, just a little bit?"

Kikyo seemed to struggle a little bit more before slowly reaching her hand out to Kagome to help her up.

Kagome took Kikyo's hand and stood to face her. "Let's do this. I don't know how long I can hold the darkness back." Kikyo said.

With that, Kagome put her hands on the sides of Kikyo's head and Kikyo put her hands on top of Kagome's. Together they summoned their miko power and closed their eyes. They pictured Kikyo's soul. It was a dark frothing ball with bits of white peaking through. The darkness seemed to be eating other balls of white that were the young girls' souls. Together Kagome and Kikyo forced the darkness out of Kikyo's soul until it was a pure white. The souls of the young girls were released and made their way to where they were supposed to go before they were caught by the soul catchers.

They both opened their eyes and looked at each other and smiled before Kagome started to sway a little and said, "I think that I used too much energy again. Don't let me hit my head this time." With that Kagome passed out for the second time that day. Luckily Kikyo wasn't as wiped out and could catch her.

Kikyo looked down at her reincarnation and one-time enemy and rival. She had always thought, well the darkness had thought, that her reincarnation was weak and not worth saving. Well, now they knew differently. "You saved me and now I need to save you." She started to chant something when a movement from the corner of her eye made her turn and gasp.

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Sorry if this story is a little too sappy and sentimental. It may be a little stupid also…but I'll leave the judgment up to you.

In regards to the comment about Kikyo having no sense of humor, I just had to put that in there. I know that it seems out of place but the voices inside my head demanded it. Plus I just got finished reading an anti-Kikyo fanfiction, but I try not to let that affect me too much. Although, she does get on my nerves a lot sometimes…but she is not going to be like that in this story. She is going to start being more like Kagome.

Things to think about: Who did Kikyo see? What does she think is wrong with Kagome? Well, until next chapter…See ya!

P.S. I warn you…my author's notes in the next chapter go a little crazy…I've already written it.


	5. Chapter 4

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters associated with it.

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Chapter Four

Kikyo turned toward the movement in the woods and saw, much to her astonishment, all of the people that Naraku had said that he killed along with some of his former minions. She was so surprised that it didn't even compute that some of the group went into battle mode and drew their make-shift weapons when they saw Kagome lying at Kikyo's feet. Her eyes found Inuyasha and stayed on him. "You're…alive."

"Kikyo, what did you do to Kagome?!" Inuyasha asked her urgently, as he rushed to Kagome's side.

"She told me that you hade died in the battle with Naraku." Kikyo still couldn't believe that he was alive. But she finally heard his question when he repeated it more urgently as he felt for her pulse. It was slow, but steady. _She's alive_, he thought with relief. _I have no idea how she survived, but she's okay. Kikyo must have come and defeated Naraku before he could finish off Kagome._ "She's alive everyone." Everyone let out their collective breaths and lowered their weapons, but they kept them ready just in case Kikyo decided to either kill Kagome or drag Inuyasha to Hell with her.

Inuyasha looked up when Kikyo answered his earlier question. "Of course she's alive, but she used up most of her energy. Naraku is a really tough opponent, not to mention what she did for me."

Sango glared at Kikyo. "So you actually _helped_ Kagome defeat Naraku? What, did you wait until she was half dead before you helped her? Or did you even pay attention to what was happening to her in battle?"

Kikyo stared at Sango. She understood the other woman's reasons for her accusations, but she wasn't herself back then and the rest of them needed to understand what happened and what Kikyo now had to do. "When I got here Naraku was already defeated and my…Ka-go-me was already passed out. I woke her up, demanding to know where Inuyasha was. She didn't give me any details, but she told me you all were dead. Since no other demon bodies are here, I'm assuming that he underestimated her and didn't realize how strong she actually was. I had always known-"

Inuyasha and the rest of the group, including Sesshomaru, but excluding Rin, looked shocked. Inuyasha interrupted Kikyo with a "WHAT?! Kagome…KAGOME DEFEATED NARAKU! ALL BY HERSELF!" Inuyasha yelled.

Rin just smiled and said, "Rin knew that the pretty Lady Kagome was strong." She looked up at Sesshomaru. "Can the pretty lady be Rin's mommy?"

Sesshomaru ignored Rin's question, and her, for the moment. He was lost in his own thoughts. _I knew the miko was strong, but strong enough to defeat Naraku when everyone working together, including me, was not able to?_ He narrowed his eyes in thought. _How is that possible?_ (**Author's Note**: Sesshomaru is going to talk normally in his thoughts. _Thinking_ in the third-person is just plain weird. Not that talking isn't too. Forgive me if I get mixed up and let him talk normally, but I may be taking care of that later just because it irritates me.)

Kikyo sighed. "You really have no idea how strong she really is, do you? She is a lot stronger than I was when I died. How do you think that I'm able to have as much power as I do now, with only a small part of her soul? The souls I take certainly don't have much power, if any. The only thing holding her back is that she doesn't know how to access the full extent of her powers, much less use them to their full potential." Kikyo looked down at her reincarnation, a girl that was her, but was so different from her. "Her soul is 500 years older than mine was. Do you know how much stronger a soul can get in that amount of time? In addition, the jewel has been in her body, tied to her soul, ever since I died, increasing her power even more. She would be even stronger if the knowledge of mikos had not slowly been lost. I don't even think that they have mikos in her time. I can't even imagine what she could do if she were trained, but I guess we will soon find out…" Kikyo trailed off, thinking of what she had to do.

Everyone but Sesshomaru and Rin gaped at Kikyo. Sesshomaru was stunned as well, he was just better at hiding his emotions than everyone else. He didn't even compute the things about the time traveling. Rin was getting bored with the serious discussion and was looking around for some wild flowers to give to the Lady Kagome when she woke up. _Maybe Rin can convince the pretty lady to be Rin's mommy! _Rin thought happily. (**Author's Note: **While I think that Sesshomaru's talking in third-person is annoying, with Rin I think it's cute. I have no idea why it makes any difference who is doing it, but there it is. But, still, I think that I will be doing something about it later on because I might slip up.)

Sango was the first to slip out of her stupor. "What do you mean 'we will soon find out'? Do you plan on training her? But you HATE her!"

Kikyo smiled sadly at Sango. "I don't hate her any longer. In fact, I don't think that I ever _truly_ hated her. She was just in the way. I don't think that I thought she was significant enough to worry about. After all, I thought that she was so pathetic that she didn't have any idea how to use her powers. She didn't even know how to defend herself! But, I think that I understand her a little better now, not as well as she understands me, but enough to know some basic things about her. I know that she is not weak or lazy. She just didn't have anyone to teach her as I had to teach me. And I guess you could say that I will be training her, in a way, but not as you are thinking."

Inuyasha stared at Kikyo uncertainly. "Kikyo…why are you being so nice to Kagome? Why haven't you tried to drag me to Hell with you? And where are your soul stealers?"

"I no longer have need of them." Kikyo answered his last question, knowing that the other questions will be answered with the rest of her explanation. She sighed. _I don't think that I'm going to be able to just get on with what I have to do without dramatics. I guess that it would be better to make him see the truth so that he can go on with his life._

"What do you mean you no longer have need of them? Kikyo, you'll die if you don't get souls!" Inuyasha stilled, letting his bangs shield his eyes from the rest of the group. "Or is it time for me to fulfill my promise to you now that the jewel is going to be complete." He whispered the last, more of a statement than a question. He knew that he would descend to Hell with her eventually as his punishment for failing to protect her. _The least I can do is share her fate._

His last whispered statement/question ripped Kikyo's heart in two. "This is one of the things that I need to talk to you about. I only just realized it myself…you don't love me. You can't. You don't even know me. If you had really loved me, then you would have known that that lump of clay that that ogress brought to 'life' was not me. As my reincarnation…no, KAGOME, said earlier, I would never have intentionally caused so much pain to someone that I loved. And I do love you Inuyasha, but if you are guilty of not knowing me, then I am guilty of not knowing you, _before_. I do know you now though. I have watched you with_ her_ and I know that you would have not betrayed me. Love _can_ exist without trust…but without trust, love is not worth anything. It leads only to heartbreak, as both you and I know. You didn't really trust me and I didn't trust you. And, when I was resurrected, that lack of trust continued, at least on your part. On some level, I knew that I could trust you to keep your promise to share my fate, but that is not my fate. I know that it is obvious now, but how could my soul go to Hell when I have a reincarnation 500 years in the future? Plus, my soul is not exactly my own; it is just a part of hers. I still find it ironic that someone that had no memory of me in life was the only one to figure out that there was something wrong with the way that I was acting…although it does make since that she would know because she _is_ me. She knew that I would have never been the sort of person to become a parasite and condemn innocent girls just to save myself. She knew this because she would never do it. She also knew that I would have wanted Inuyasha to be happy and not blame him for something that was not even his fault. She saw all this and begged me to let her heal me. She figured out that the ogress somehow contaminated my soul with the hate and bitterness that filled my last moments and that each soul that I stole and consumed further contaminated me. She said that I probably could have purified my soul myself if it had not been so small that it was overpowered by darkness. That darkness fed the hate and allowed it to continue to govern my actions toward you all. She said that she knew that I was not beyond hope because she had seen flashes of my old self when I played the priestess at the villages I visited. I knew that she was right and had to fight the darkness contaminating my soul in order to accept her help. Together, even though she was almost depleted from defeating Naraku, we found the evil darkness and purified my soul. The girls' souls were freed to continue their journey. The soul stealers were purified with the darkness. Kagome was exhausted and passed out. Then you all came. Kagome is a kind, understanding, and very compassionate young woman. I feel honored to know that I am a part of her."

Silence reined as Kikyo finished her speech, especially with Inuyasha. He felt so guilty and stricken when she had said that he didn't love her, had never truly loved her. He wanted to yell at her and tell her that she was wrong, but a small voice in the back of his mind told him that she might be right. If he had really loved her, he would have known that she wasn't like that. He was rarely reasonable about something that he didn't like to hear, but this was just too important and he couldn't see how he could convince her otherwise when a part of him admitted the ring of truth in her reasoning.

Kikyo looked at Inuyasha sadly. "A part of me will always love you, Inuyasha. Maybe if we had had more time with each other, none of this would have happened, but we cannot change the past, nor should we wish to. Everything happens for a reason, even if we can't know what that reason is. No matter how sad an occurrence, we have to remember that and keep on living. That is what I want you to do: get on with your life. Find someone to love and have a happy life together. Don't blame yourself for my death and try not to mourn me too much. You deserve to be happy, Inuyasha. Don't pass it up just because of what happened between us."

Inuyasha looked panicky. "Kikyo, what are you saying? Are you going to allow yourself to die? We have the Shikon now. We can bring you back to-"

Kikyo interrupted Inuyasha before he could get even more worked up. "We cannot make that wish on the jewel because my soul's fate in this time has already been decided. The events leading to my reincarnation in this time have already been set in motion and I cannot let destiny be altered. That is the way that this works. My soul is already on its way to another home. I cannot continue to hold this form without consuming other souls."

"YOU CAN'T JUST DIE!" Inuyasha cried out.

"GUYS!" Sango yelled, interrupting them. She was kneeling beside Kagome and trying to make sure that she was okay, but she wasn't. "There is something wrong! Kagome's pulse…It's SLOWING DOWN!" Everyone hurried over to Kagome's body and looked down at her. Her breathing was becoming fast and she was taking shuddering breaths. Sango felt her forehead. "She's burning up!"

Miroku put his hand on her forehead. "Her energy is fading. It's like she can't recoup the energy that she lost."

"She is dying."

Everyone turned to look at Kikyo. Sango yelled. "What do you mean she's dying? We can still save her. We just have to get her to Kaede."

"My sister cannot save her. She used up too much energy between the fight and purifying both the jewel and my soul. This would have happened eventually, even if she had not used up so much energy. A body cannot survive when its soul is torn apart. The only reason ours did for so long is that we have so much spiritual power. Our respective parts of our soul fed off of that energy in order to sustain themselves. I had to resort to using other people's souls to keep my soul from dying. Kagome's part just had her energy to feed off of. Now that she doesn't have that energy anymore, her body is dying. I must-"

Shippo, quiet up until this point with worry for his mama, interrupted her. "But Mama was always getting stronger! She can't be dying!" he started sobbing into the sleeping Kagome's shoulder.

Kikyo smiled sadly at the young kitsune. "The only reason she seemed to be getting stronger is that she was steadily learning how to unlock and use more of her powers. She was steadily getting weaker ever since her soul was torn apart. That is why it must be put back together again. I was starting the chant to do this when you all came."

Shippo sniffled. "But doesn't that mean that you will die?"

Really smiling for the first time since seeing the group, Kikyo explained. "I won't really die. I will be going back to where I belong. I am a part of Kagome and as long as our soul lives, I will not die. I expect that I will be a lot more happy and alive there than I ever was in this clay body."

Inuyasha couldn't accept that he wouldn't even have the chance to see if they could overcome their problems. But he was really worried about Kagome and what would happen to her if her soul was not made whole again. He didn't know what to do and he said so.

Sesshomaru looked at his half-brother in disgust. "You really haven't been listening have you." He stated rather than asked.

Kikyo smiled. "Inuyasha will understand when he needs to, if he needs to. I really don't know what the future holds, but I will be watching from inside Kagome. Expect her to be a lot stronger with her soul whole again." Kikyo stared into Inuyasha's eyes. "Don't forget what I said, Inuyasha." And, proving that she really did know the hanyou now. "And don't do anything stupid when I leave this body. You really don't want to become a full demon or a human."

With everything finally said, Kikyo started the chant to repair the torn soul. The group could feel the power of the spell that Kikyo was chanting as the wind picked up. Just as the wind was becoming unbearable to the humans and the small kit, it suddenly stopped. They all looked to where Kikyo was standing. She smiled at all of them before the clay body that she had been inhabiting for the last two years disintegrated, slowly blowing away with the much gentler wind that was blowing in the aftermath of the spell.

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So…how was that? It's a lot longer than the other chapters. What will the pairings be? I have no idea. I may make this a crossover at a later date, but for right now I'm leaning toward a Kagome/Inuyasha pairing, much as I hate to say it. Not that there is anything wrong with those pairings…I just think that some of the other pairings are more interesting in fanfictions, especially with crossovers. I really think that Kagome and Inuyasha are meant to be together in the anime; Inuyasha is just stupid when it comes to love. This pairing seems like the right thing for this story…although I do LOVE Kagome/Kurama pairings (I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of it's characters either, Yoshihiro Togashi does, much as I hate to say it seeing as how I would LOVE to have Kurama, but only if him and Sesshomaru could get along)…

Also, I don't really know that much about the belief system surrounding reincarnation and the like. Although, since it is a theological subject, it should be open to interpretation. This is just how I would imagine reincarnation to work with the growth of souls and all. If it is not right I really don't want to hear about it, so please don't give me reviews that go on and on about the things that I got wrong. This is fiction; it's not like I'm writing a book on the subject that is going to be read by millions. I'm not going to corrupt everyone into believing what I say is gospel. I doubt that anyone will even read the thing much less take anything that it says here seriously. I just want to write a good story that I hope will entertain at least a few people (although I doubt it since you have so many fanfics to choose from that you probably will not even stumble across mine, much less read it and enjoy it. It is probably boring anyway, what with the lack of action.) In case you haven't noticed, I'm very insecure about my writing. This is my first one so I don't know how it will go. Okay, enough with the rambling and pity partying! I'm going to write this for myself so that I can see what happens and if you don't like it, then you don't have to read it! I really don't care if you flame me…Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I do! It would hurt my feelings and make me feel even more inferior than I already do. If I get too many of them, I'll just delete the story off the site and finish writing it for my own enjoyment.

Don't let the above paragraph fool you…I love everyone! It's just that I tend to think too much about some things. I also have slight mood swings. My mind works in mysterious ways…

Have you noticed how much I love to use the …'s?

SMILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	6. Chapter 5

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters associated with it.

Author's Note**: Okay Mediaminer reviewers (I don't include the other sites because they haven't reviewed yet). I lied. I said that it would take me a couple of weeks to update but I decided to do it today as I had the time and I was in such a good mood. It _will_ be a couple of weeks until the next one though after I upload chapter six. And just so you know, the things where the text is all in bold is where I add things after I have already written the chapters and read the reviews for previous ones. This is where you will find things like review answers to questions that I think are important to more than just a few people. I don't think that I will answer very many reviews in my chapters, unless it is something that either a lot of people asked or they point out a plot hole or something like that. I will try to answer all reviews individually with emails. **

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to madmiko, as she was _my first ever reviewer_. Thanks! Special mention to my other two reviewers KagomeoftheSouth and Purefire16.

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Chapter Five

Kagome slowly woke up, fighting every step of the way. She didn't want to face the reality that all her friends, her _true_ friends that had always stood by her no matter what danger they faced, were dead. Even Sesshomaru had grown on her in the end with his love for the human child, Rin, and the fact that he seemed to respect her in ways that even her traveling companions didn't. Now that they were all dead there was nothing to keep her in this time. She would go back to her time and become a normal teenager, just like everyone else on the outside, but filled with sorrow and pain on the inside. She didn't want to get up and face the fact that this was her fate…but she couldn't sleep forever and she felt herself slowly becoming more alert. The first thing that she noticed was the feeling of almost completeness that she hadn't felt in a long time, and shouldn't be feeling now, since a part of her heart had been ripped out and Naraku had taken it with him to Hell as a plaything. The second thing that she noticed was how her miko power seemed to be greater than ever, even after using up all her energy defeating Naraku and then healing Kikyo. _Oh no, KIKYO!_

_It's alright Kagome. I'm back where I belong. Neither one of us would have lasted much longer if we hadn't joined._ Kagome felt Kikyo's presence in her mind, assuring her that it was for the best and that she was not going crazy. _I'll be here with you always. My knowledge and memories are available to you should you ever need them. It is disgraceful how everyone in your time has forgotten about mikos, making us into just a legend or an act to draw tourists to various shrines, all the knowledge and power that made mikos what we are being lost; although I guess since there are almost no demons in your time we wouldn't be as useful as we are now._

_I don't think there are mikos with any power in my time. I've never felt any power similar to mine. I have felt some other strange kind of power that I can't really identify, but it isn't the same. _Kagome thought for a moment. She was really surprised that she wasn't freaking out_. Maybe it's because of the jewel that I survived with my powers in tact, but dormant. It makes sense that the jewel would want to protect itself by not allowing whatever happened to the other mikos to happen to me._

_Not many, if _any_, have as much power as us anyway._

_Are you always this modest, Kikyo?_ Kagome felt Kikyo's annoyance in her mind.

_Humph. I was just stating a fact. Anyway you need to wake up! There are a lot of people anxiously awaiting an explanation. I would like to hear their's as well._

_What are you talking about…thinking about…oh, this talking in my head is getting me confused!_

_You will see when you wake up. And as far talking in your head, just think of it as talking to yourself. I have a feeling that you will need to get used to it as time goes on. Now, WAKE UP!_

Kagome became aware of someone sitting on her chest. She stilled. She couldn't believe what she was feeling. There had to be some mistake. There was no way Shippo was sitting on her. _Unless it was all a dream…or am I dead? I should have known having a Kikyo in my head was stupid. I would never be able to talk to anyone else for arguing with her. People would start to think that I'm crazy…which I am but other people don't need to know that._

_Just open your eyes already and get on with it!_ Kagome jumped as Kikyo screamed in her head. Kagome squeezed her eyes shut even tighter. She really was going crazy, or she would get there eventually with Kikyo in her head. Especially since she had no idea that Kikyo could be this impatient. Kikyo must have heard her thoughts because she told Kagome smugly, _Hey remember I'm you. When I was in that clay body I only had a limited amount of emotion at my disposal. I'm not as outspoken as you, but we both have tempers. When it counts I can keep my cool but you really need to GET ON WITH IT! They never told me what happened and I want to know._

"Hey guys, I think she's waking up." Kagome heard Miroku's voice right beside her.

"Mommy!" cried Shippo as the echo of a slap and a yelled "Pervert!" faded in the background. As soon as it was determined that Kagome was all right, Miroku's hand had inched over to a certain demon exterminator's backside.

Kagome kept her eyes glued shut, not wanting to open them only to realize that it was a dream. Kikyo finally had enough of her counterpart's delaying and forced Kagome to open her eyes. As they were opening Kagome asked, _Did I know you could do that?_

_No, but it makes things so much more interesting, doesn't it?_

Kagome forgot all about the conversation with her other self as she took in all the familiar faces surrounding her. When she got to the faces of Kagura, Kanna, and Kohaku, she screamed.

Shippo turned to see what she was screaming about. "Don't worry, Kagome. They aren't under Naraku's influence anymore. They came to thank you for freeing them. They released us from the prison that Naraku had put us in."

Kagura and Kanna bowed to Kagome. "Thank you for freeing us, Lady Kagome." They said this together, holding Kohaku.

Kagura looked down at the boy. "Lady Kagome, we know that you need to purify the shard in his back. The only reason he isn't attacking everyone is because Naraku ordered him to obey me until he returned. I just don't know how we will be able to get the shard out without killing him." Sango looked like she was about to cry at this news.

Sesshomaru stepped forward. "Normally this Sesshomaru would not offer, but Rin is attached to him and would cry if he were to die. This Sesshomaru will use Tenseiga to save him." Everyone but Rin and Kohaku looked at Sesshomaru incredulously. Rin was off gathering more flowers for Kagome and Kohaku was just staring ahead emotionlessly.

Kagome was still in shock at seeing everyone alive. "How is this possible? I killed Naraku and he said that he had killed all of you. And I saw him absorb a lot of you."

Sesshomaru looked at her arrogently. "This Sesshomaru would not allow himself to be absorbed by Naraku without a fight."

Shippo cut in, hopping up and down beside her excitedly. "Yeah Kagome, it was so funny! At least it would have been if we could have been outside watching. He had to fight for control of his own body! He couldn't stop punching himself in the nose until he got to his castle and put us in a prison with a really strong barrier. He took everyone's remaining weapons while we were still weak from being absorbed. He came back periodically to taunt us. He said that before the week was through you would be working for him and then he could kill us and take your heart and use it to control you like he did Kagura. We stayed there for a really long time until Kagura came to release us. Kagura knew that Naraku had been defeated because her heart had been returned to her. How did you defeat Naraku anyway?"

"Yes, I think we would all like to know the answer to that question." Miroku said somberly. "Nice outfit by the way." SLAP!

Kagome looked down at her feet. "I was so numb when Naraku delivered his ultimatum that I just got really focused. I went to Kaede's and set her and the villagers to work making arrows and then went home to change clothes. I wanted something that wouldn't restrict my movements since I knew that I would need all the help that I could get to defeat Naraku. I went back to Kaede's and practiced nonstop with Hiraikotsu and my bow and arrows up until yesterday. I rested and then came here to meet Naraku." She tells them what happened during the battle up until the end her confrontation with Kikyo.

They were all silent for a moment. Inuyasha had been thinking all this time about the things that Kikyo had said in the back of his mind while he listened to Kagome's story. He knew that Kikyo was right. He hadn't really known her. He had known that Kagome would never agree to be in Naraku's control and even if he had managed to get her in his control and held her heart, she would just let him kill her just as he would have killed them. Kagome didn't have it in her to hurt innocent people on purpose, even if the lives of her friends were on the line and none of them would blame her for it, for they would do the exact same thing if they were in her shoes. He hadn't known that she would have it in her to defeat Naraku, and so anticlimactically, too, but no one could have known that she had that much power in her…well, except Kikyo. But he did know Kagome where it counted—her character. She had a strong and compassionate nature that few could match. She didn't care if you were human, hanyou, or even full-blooded youkai; she judged the beings for _who_ they were not _what_ they were. She couldn't stand for anything or anyone to be hurt if she could do something to prevent it. If he would have thought about it, he would have known that Kikyo would share some of these traits, but he hadn't. The kind of knowing that he and Kagome and even Miroku, Sango, Kirara, and Shippo shared could only be found from spending so much time together and sharing so many hardships. They had bonded into true friends and that was something that no one could take away from them. He may pick on them from time to time and call them weak, but he knew that each one of them brought something unique to the group that enabled them to survive, although he would never admit it to anyone, especially Shippo. He had to accept that Kikyo was dead and there was nothing he could do but try to respect her wishes and get on with his life. He had no idea how Kagome or the rest fit into that life, but only time would tell.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it if he hadn't taken all of you. I just had to destroy him so that you could all rest in peace knowing that he wouldn't be hurting anyone else ever again. I couldn't let him get away with what I thought he did to you and I couldn't let you guys remain a part of him. I love you guys so much…" Kagome had tears running down her face as Sango went to her knees beside the weeping girl to hug her.

"We're alright now. There's no need to cry. We have all of the jewel shards and Naraku is dead, no matter how you managed to defeat him." Sango rubbed Kagome's back soothingly.

"Sango's right Kagome. We're all proud of you for defeating Naraku." Inuyasha finally broke his silence.

Kagome looked at him, surprised out of her crying spell. The hanyou rarely ever complimented her and she was especially surprised at him complimenting her for doing something that he had never managed to do.

Inuyasha noticed the looks that he was getting from the rest of the group and quickly got back to normal. "Of course, if I wasn't locked up, then I would have been the one to defeat Naraku without any help from anyone. And I would have done it quicker too."

Kagome smiled at Inuyasha, knowing that all that was just bluster. He was her best friend and no matter what anyone, including himself, said he was a good person. He may mutter at the inconvenience of it all when they have to rescue someone when the situation doesn't involve jewel shards, but he always helped people in need. You just had to look below the surface.

Kagome was ripped out of her musings when Shippo let out a loud "OW!" She looked over at Inuyasha who had Shippo by the shirt with one hand with the other hand in a fist. She sighed. Just when she was having such complimentary thoughts about the hanyou he had to go pull something like this. "Osuwari!"

Inuyasha was pulled face down to the ground, like so many other times before, although it had been happening less and less of late. Inuyasha got back up as the spell wore off and swore. "Wench, what the hell was that for?"

Kagome saw red. "How many times do I have to tell you NOT to call me 'wench'? Osuwari! You know my name, use it! Osuwari! And you know perfectly well what that was for; every time you hit Shippo this happens. Osuwari! You should NOT hit children! Osuwari! And, no, it does not matter what he said to you!" Shippo had responded to Inuyasha's bragging with "So what was stopping you before, all those times when we battled Naraku?" which resulted in him getting banged on the head by Inuyasha.

By now Inuyasha was in a ten-foot deep crater with stars in his eyes. The rest of the shard hunting group was smiling at this familiar sight, a sign that things could be normal again. The people that were not used to this sweat dropped. (**A/N**: I don't have too many of these 'sweat drops' because it is kinda strange in a written story with no pictures to go along with it. Other authors do it well, but to me it feels strange to write it.) Sesshomaru actually cracked a smile, unnoticed by anyone except Jaken, who started to get scared because whenever Sesshomaru smiled it was usually followed by pain for him.

Rin finally got finished picking her flowers and rushed over to Kagome. Kagome looked down at the adorable child and she just wanted to snatch her up and hug her. Rin looked at her shyly. "Rin picked these flowers for you, Lady Kagome."

Kagome took the flowers from Rin and couldn't refrain from hugging the darling any longer. "Aren't you just the cutest little thing! Thank you so much for the flowers, they're beautiful!"

Rin was really happy that the pretty lady liked her flowers. It had been so long since Rin's mother had held her that Rin just closed her eyes and sighed. It felt so good to be held and petted like her mother used to do before she died. That brought to mind the question that Rin wanted to ask her. "Will you be Rin's mommy?"

Kagome was startled at the girl's question, not knowing how to answer her when she didn't know what would happen now. She thought for a moment. "I'll be your mommy for as long as I can but there is every chance that I will not be allowed to come back here once my mission is complete. That is if Lord Sesshomaru will allow it." Sesshomaru nodded, well aware that the child needed a human influence. He didn't understand the reference about not being able to come back though. Kagome had not been going home through the well since before Sesshomaru and company joined them. Things had just gotten too hectic. So, the lord didn't have any idea about the time traveling. He just thought that she came from a really strange village.

The shard hunting group was somber when Kagome mentioned not being able to come back, Inuyasha having gotten over eating dirt. They knew it was a distinct possibility, but didn't want to think about it. Sango and Miroku were especially apprehensive about it, seeing as how they were humans and had no chance of living long enough to see her again.

_This is no time for a pity party. You have work to do and it needs to be done fast before anymore youkai get it into their heads to try and steal the jewel._

Kagome jumped. _Oh, Kikyo! I almost forgot that you were there. And where did you learn the phrase 'pity party'? I thought that was after your time._

In Kagome's mind Kikyo seemed to smirk_. Let's just say that some of your memories are rubbing off on me, although I really don't understand this 'Math' stuff…is it some sort of code or spell? I think that I understand some of it but…never mind. Back to the subject at hand!_

Now, what were they discussing? Kikyo stomped her imaginary foot in Kagome's mind. She thought for a moment. _We will probably get going in a minute. But something has been bothering me._ _Do you think that I should tell anyone about you?_

_Not unless they ask. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to try to explain this situation unless absolutely necessary. You can tell them only if they notice you talking to yourself and start to think that you are going crazy. _

_Oh, yeah, and telling them that I have _you_ in my head is going to convince them of my saneness?_

_Good point…no advice to be had here. You're on your own with this one.

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-----**That Night**-----

Kagome sighed, glad that they had stopped to rest for the night. Inuyasha had been suspiciously quiet when she had explained that she had left one jewel shard in her time as a precaution against Naraku ever getting the whole jewel. Not to mention that she wanted insurance in case Inuyasha ever got it into his head again to strand her back in her own time without the jewel shards to allow her to get back.

_Come now, Kagome, you really don't think that the jewel shards had very much to do with your being able to travel through the well, do you? I can think of at least two occasions where you traveled through the well without the jewel shards. One: When Yura of the Hair pushed you after stealing your shard. Two: When Inuyasha tried to get you away from danger by pushing you through the well after stealing your jewel shards. Do you see a common theme here? You were caught off guard each time. It only makes sense that you don't expect to be able to go through the well without the jewel shards and so you were unable to do so. It is as simple as that._

Kagome felt like beating her head up against a wall. _Why me? Why did I have to get stuck with an infuriating know-it-all in my head? I can't even escape. And she always gets me off topic by butting into my thinking process. Why couldn't I have had a quiet incarnation take up residence inside my head? Who would have thought that the seemingly quiet and dignified Kikyo would be such a blabber mouth?_

Kikyo, in an uncharacteristic (at least uncharacteristic in how she was thought of in life) move, decided that she was going to pout. She had never had the chance to do it in life except for a very few times when she was a small child and didn't understand the life of duty and responsibility ahead of her. She found that it was quite fun, regardless of the fact that her reincarnation was currently ignoring her to get back to what she was thinking about in the first place. _Maybe I really should stop getting her off track with her thoughts_. But it was so much fun to act out in ways that she couldn't have when she was alive. Plus this girl that was her reincarnation didn't seem to be bothering to keep up her appearances as a priestess by acting cool and distant. She didn't even wear the traditional garments of a priestess. Maybe Kikyo should have been herself more on the outside when she was alive, regardless of how she was taught a priestess should behave. But the past was the past and couldn't be changed. The only thing that she could do was make sure that this girl was true to herself and didn't let others' opinions on how she should behave affect her. The old Kikyo would have never even thought this but she was proud of what her reincarnation had become.

While Kikyo was pondering the wonders of pouting, Kagome was getting back to thinking about Inuyasha. He hadn't even yelled at the inconvenience of having to make a detour to her era to get the missing shard. She hadn't had to 'sit' him once in order to get him to stop yelling like he did every time she had to go home. It was quite disturbing. It had her worrying about what Kikyo had said to Inuyasha before she had woken up. Kikyo had filled her in on what had happened and while she agreed that they should have trusted each other, she knew that Inuyasha would be torn up about it. She was surprised that he hadn't put up more of a fuss. After all, he is _always_ right, at least in his own mind. He hadn't even reacted when Koga had jumped in and said something like "I shall accompany you, Kagome, as I don't trust dog-breath to see to the safety of my woman properly." That really had Kagome worried. He never totally ignored Koga, especially not when he called her 'his woman'.

Everyone was situated around the fire, and everyone meant Shippo, Miroku, Sango, Koga, Kagome, and Inuyasha. The rest of the group had gone to Sesshomaru's palace to wait for the rest of the group to return with the whole jewel. Sesshomaru had kept his promise to Kagome and brought Kohaku back to life when the jewel shard was taken from his back. Kagura and Kanna had decided to leave before Kohaku woke up. They didn't want for him to be reminded of the time he had spent in Naraku's control. They decided to go where ever the wind took them. Sango had been torn between wanting to stay with her brother to be with him when he woke up and journeying with the rest of the group to the well. Kagome had urged her to stay with her brother, but Sango realized that this might be the last journey that they would take together. It might even be the last time that she even saw the girl that she viewed as a sister.

Inuyasha suddenly got up and walked into the forest without a word to anyone.

Kagome stared after him. _Kikyo, I'm worried about Inuyasha._

_He will eventually get over what I said, Kagome. Once he realizes the truth in my words._

_That's not what I'm talking about. You saw how he's been acting all day! He is definitely not himself. He hasn't fought with Koga or gotten into an argument with Shippo all day. He didn't even yell when I told him about the delay in getting jewel shards. _

_Maybe he realizes what you did was smart. It would have kept Naraku from completing the jewel, thus keeping him from wishing on it, even if he still would have been extremely powerful with an almost completed jewel, he still wouldn't have been able to get what he most wished for: to become a full-fledged youkai._

_But Inuyasha is never reasonable about delays in getting jewel shards! I have to follow him and find out what is wrong with him._

_Who's stopping you? I was just reassuring you that you were right to take the actions that you did. You needed to hear it._

Sometimes the workings of Kagome's mind confused even her and it had only got worse since Kikyo had taken up residence there.

None of the others were surprised when the miko suddenly got up to run after the hanyou. They were just surprised that it had taken her so long to do it. Even Koga knew that there was a special bond between the two.

Kagome ran to catch up with Inuyasha. He had stopped beside a small stream and was sitting on a rock, staring at the reflection of the crescent moon on the surface of the water. His ears twitched as Kagome came up behind him so she knew that he was aware of her approach. For once the girl didn't have to pry anything out of him, didn't even have to say a word. "Kagome, have you realized that this might be the last time we will be able to journey together? We have no way of knowing if the well will continue to work for either of us after the jewel is destroyed. We may not even be able to see each other again." Inuyasha turned to look down at her. "You're my best friend, Kagome. Besides my mother, you are the first person who accepted me as I was and never looked down at me for being a hanyou. I don't know what I'm going to do without you. I don't want to lose you." (**AN:** I'm including Kikyo in the ones that never accepted him as he was because she wanted him to use the jewel to become human, like there was something wrong with what he was. I'm going to just assume that this is the result of her priestess upbringing. She was brought up to think that all youkai were bad and should be destroyed, so the youkai half of Inuyasha should be destroyed also. It also didn't hurt matters that the jewel would disappear and she wouldn't have to guard it anymore. Although I fail to see her logic here, because that would have been a selfish wish unless Inuyasha really didn't want to be a human and was just doing it to make Kikyo happy which wouldn't be completely selfish either because it would make him happy to see her happy. Is there any such thing as a completely unselfish wish? I don't think so, but I've had enough of talking myself in circles. On with the story!)

Kagome was speechless for a moment. So this had been what had been bothering her friend all day. Kagome had tried not to think about the time that she would be separated from her friends, but sometimes on the road it was all that she could think about, especially in the recent months. She didn't really know how to comfort Inuyasha about something that she was so apprehensive about herself.

"We may be able to see each other again, Inuyasha. I know that there don't seem to be many demons in my time, but I don't doubt Sesshomaru or you will survive. Knowing Sesshomaru, I don't think that he would _allow_ either himself or you to die. He knows that you are his only blood family and, from what you told me of the time you spent together in Naraku's dungeon, you two have agreed to set aside your differences and share the responsibility of governing the Western Lands. At least you will have something to do when we no longer have the responsibility to the jewel. Plus, we really don't know for sure if I'm going to be forbidden from coming back here. If I can I will visit, I promise, or you could come visit me."

"It won't be the same. All the adventures we had, the challenges we faced together…we won't get to spend as much time together. You might get caught up in your life in the future and the visits will get farther and farter apart until they just stop. I don't want us to grow apart. I don't want to lose you like I did Kikyo. I know she said that I didn't really love her, but we had a pretty good chance until Naraku ruined our lives. Kikyo was taken from me by Naraku. I don't want you to be taken away, too." Inuyasha's voice was serious and quiet.

Kagome was surprised that she didn't feel the jealousy that she had always felt whenever Inuyasha mentioned Kikyo. _That is because you finally accepted, as have I, that we are the same, at least when you get down to what really makes us us._

_Then why have we always acted so differently?_

_You only remember me consumed by hatred and are influenced by how other people have described me to you._ Kikyo showed Kagome some of her memories before Naraku, even some from her childhood. They were memories of a happy, if lonely, girl who, although she held enormous responsibility all her life and had then took on even more responsibility in addition to her regular priestess duties when she became the Shikon Jewel's guardian, always found the time to sit and enjoy what nature had to offer. Although Kagome would have never expected it of her other half before she had started talking to her in her head, Kikyo had her silly moments especially when it was snowing, but only if she was alone. She never showed this side of her to others, not even to her little sister, and this was one of the main differences between them. Kikyo had always wanted to examine and rub Inuyasha's cute ears, but had refrained because it wouldn't have been proper. (Plus that would have meant admitting that there was a part of Inuyasha being a hanyou that she liked.) That was one of the first things that Kagome had done upon meeting Inuyasha.

Kagome decided that there was nothing either one of them could do about their problem until they figured out if she would be able to continue her time traveling. Both of them knew that they loved each other, maybe not in the way that she had first loved him, but it was still love. Who knows, maybe it would develop into more in the future but it would be stupid to try to see if it would now that they didn't know if they would be able to continue to see each other. She decided to break the ice. "Inuyasha there is nothing that we can do about it now so let's just take each day as it goes. But first…Inuyasha, forgive me, but there is just something I must do…" With that Kagome reached up to rub his ears. Thinking about Inuyasha's ears with Kikyo just got to be too much for her to resist.

Inuyasha emitted what would have been described as purring if he had been a cat-youkai. He allowed the rubbing to continue for a minute before he realized what was happening. Then he stood up really quick to try to get away from her rubbing, which felt entirely too good (**AN:** And not in_ that_ way, you dirty minded people!). Unfortunately for the both of them, Kagome still had a hold of his ears and this unbalanced the both of them and caused them to fall into the stream. Inuyasha came up cursing Kagome and yelling "This is all YOU'RE fault, WENCH!"

Of course, Kagome wasn't going to take that accusation without doing something about it and we all know what happens when Inuyasha calls Kagome by something other than her name. "Inuyasha you are the one that stood up so suddenly! And my name is not WENCH, it's KAGOME! OSUWARI!" Hair dripping and all in her face she stomped back toward camp. As soon as she was in the trees she let loose her smile, glad that things could be somewhat normal. Her smile widened even further when she heard a yelled "PERVERT!" from the direction of camp. Yes, some things could be normal. Hopefully they could make this last as long as they could.

* * *

Wow! This chapter was a whole ten pages! I hope that makes up for all the short ones. I have decided on whether or not this story will be a crossover or not, but I'm not going to tell you. You can figure it out for yourself. If it does turn out to be a crossover, then I'm not going to mention which one until it is obvious (and when I say obvious, I mean OBVIOUS). But just to cover my butt: **Disclaimer:** Any characters that are recognizable that may or may not enter this fic are the property of their respective creators, not mine. I have no claim on them, nor do I make any money off them. There, I think that about covers it.

**Author's Note:** I mix Japanese and English terms a lot in this fic. Sometimes I use the Japanese term, sometimes I use the English term. I also alternate between Shippo calling Kagome 'Mommy' and 'Kagome'. It just depends on what I feel like at the moment. Sorry if I get some people confused.

BYE!!!!!!!!


	7. Chapter 6

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters associated with it.

* * *

Chapter Six

They made it to Kaede's village without difficulty, only a small amount of low-level youkai getting in the way. Kaede was happy that Naraku had been defeated, but unsurprised. She had known of Kagome's potential, although she was surprised to hear of how Kagome had almost died and her sister's part in it. "I had never thought about what happens when part of a soul is taken. But I am happy that my sister is finally at peace. Thank you, Kagome-child."

Kagome pouted. _If you call 'at peace' bugging the living hell out of me, then, yeah, she's 'at peace.' Kikyou was right, this is fun!_ Luckily Kikyo wasn't paying attention to her reincarnation at the moment or she might have had something to say about that comment.

The group made the short journey to the well. Kaede had said her goodbyes to Kagome at the village, wanting to give the rest of the group some privacy for their goodbyes just in case this was the last time that they would ever see the girl. Koga had just refused to accept the possibility that Kagome couldn't come back and vowed not to get up from his corner in Kaede's hut until she came to get him.

Miroku was the first to come forward to say goodbye. He gave her a hug and whispered so that the others couldn't hear, "I wouldn't be alive and able to finally ask Sango to marry me for real if it hadn't been for you. I wouldn't have even met her. I owe you more than my life and will always consider you my friend throughout this life and after. Thank you." He gave her an extra squeeze before saying, "Goodbye." And, then, just as he was starting to let go, Kagome felt his hand travel down to her butt.

Kagome screamed what Sango's usual line was, "PERVERT!" and slapped him hard across the cheek. "Why the hell did you do that for?! You haven't done that for at least a year!"

Miroku fingered his abused cheek with a bright red handprint on it and grinned. "It was just for old time's sake. Sango understands which is why she hasn't hit me over the head with Hiraikotsu yet."

Kagome looked over at Sango and she nodded. "Miroku wouldn't be Miroku if he didn't grab someone's butt. Although usually it is mine that he grabs, I can see why he would think that he had to send you off that way." Sango thought for a minute. "I'll just have to hit him twice as hard next time he grabs mine." Miroku shuddered at her last words.

Sango turned back to Kagome. "I hope you realize that you have always been like a sister to me, as well as my best friend. You helped to bring Kohaku back to me and I will be forever in your dept for that as well as for taking me into this group and supporting me after my family was killed. You carried out my revenge on Naraku for me and brought an end to his evil once and for all." Sango was trying her best to say goodbye without crying but it was really hard. She finally gave up the battle and leapt into Kagome's arms, tears streaming down her face. "I love you, Kagome! I hope that I can see you if I am reincarnated, if you can't come back. Don't forget us! Goodbye!" With that Sango ran back to the village.

Shippo hadn't stopped crying since they had begun their final journey to the well. "I don't want Mommy to leave!" With that he threw himself into Kagome's arms, a spot that Sango had vacated just seconds before.

Kagome wrapped her arms around the small kitsune. "I have to fulfill my duty as the jewel's guardian, Shippo. If I had a choice, I would take you with me, I'm sure my mother would love you. But I don't. I love you, Shippo. Don't ever forget that. I will come back if I can." Shippo leapt out of her arms and ran in the direction of the village just as Sango had. He couldn't deal with watching his mother figure leave and know that she might never be able to come back once the jewel was complete.

Kagome knelt down to the small neko-youkai and started petting her. "Goodbye, Kirara. Take care of everyone for me." Kirara meowed and ran off to comfort her mistress and Shippo.

Kagome turned to the only person left to say goodbye to and the person that she had first started this journey with. It was fitting that he should be the one to see her end it. "Inuyasha…"

Inuyasha came forward. "Well, why are you still standing there? Let's go get the other jewel shard!"

Kagome looked at Inuyasha in shock. "What do you mean?! You can't go with me. We don't even know if the well will work once the jewel is whole again! You could be trapped in my era!"

Inuyasha just stared into the well stubbornly. "I've already said my goodbyes to everyone and explained what I plan to do. They didn't mention anything to you because I didn't want you to have anytime to think up any arguments to try to stop me."

"But do you realize what you're doing?! You will have to wear a hat all the time to cover your ears. You won't be able to go around picking fights with everyone and you won't have many, if any, youkai to slay. You would be bored out of your mind!"

Inuyasha suddenly looked up from the well and into Kagome's eyes. "I would have you around. That is more than I will have here." He looked away and snorted. "Anyway, I doubt I will be bored. With the way you attract trouble I should have enough to deal with to keep from getting rusty. If there are any demons in your era, they will be sure to find you." Inuyasha braced himself for the sit that he knew had to be coming, after all, he _had _been asking for it.

Inuyasha looked up when a moment passed and still no sit had come. Kagome had gotten all teary-eyed and when he looked up she threw herself into Inuyasha's arms, crying. After a moment, she looked up into Inuyasha's eyes and said, "Thank you, Inuyasha." And with that they both jumped in the well together with the comforting blue light of the well coming up to meet them.

* * *

Does anyone know if Kagome will be able to come back through the well? Or if Inuyasha will be stuck in modern times? I do, but I'm not telling until the next chapter…or maybe the next.

Bye!


	8. Chapter 7

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters associated with it.

* * *

Chapter Seven

---Kagome's Era, On the Other Side of the Well---

Kagome let out the breath that she had been holding when the blue light left and she was still in Inuyasha's arms. She looked up at him and saw that he was as relieved as she was. He picked her up and jumped out of the well. They made their way to the door of the well house and Kagome cautiously looked out to see if there were any shrine visitors around. There didn't look like there was anyone there at the moment so they made their way to the house and came in the door to the kitchen. Mrs. Higurashi was standing over the stove making dinner. She looked up to see who was coming in the door and dropped the spoon she was using to stir the oden that she had been making every night since Kagome had left just in case she came back that day. She had tears of joy and gratitude that her daughter had come home safe as she ran forward to hug her daughter saying, "I'm _so_ glad that you came home safe!"

Inuyasha came in and closed the door behind him to make sure no one spotted him until he had on his trusty, irksome, _irritating_ baseball cap. He leaned against the door until he smelled the oden. Then he crept over to the pot but before he could get very far, he heard a gasp and was suddenly enfolded in a sufficatingly motherly embrace. Mrs. Higurashi had been home when her daughter had come home and heard how all her friends had been absorbed or kidnapped by Naraku. She had thought that she would never see the half-demon again. Inuyasha for his part, while he felt that his great dignity and pride was hurting, he was secretly enjoying the embrace, as it had been a very long time since his mother had held him thus.

Mrs. Higurashi finally pulled away and demanded what happened. They repeated the story, minus a few of the more scary parts, as in Kagome almost dying because her soul was split, because, let's face it, mothers don't need more reason to worry than can be helped, especially not when their daughter is a time-traveling miko that fights demons and comes home regularly with injuries.

Mrs. Higurashi let all of that sink in. "So, you two might be stuck here once the jewel is complete and not be able to get threw the well again. Inuyasha, you will have to stay here at the shrine for the most part, if the jewel allows you to stay, and you are okay with this?" Inuyasha nodded, having thought through the pros and cons of his decision already. Mrs. Higurashi sighed. "I have to say that I'm glad that you will possibly be staying in this time. Kagome would be devastated if she had to give up every one of her friends on that side of the well." She got up. "Well, I'm sure that you have some business with the jewel to take care of. I will finish making dinner. Oh, and Kagome make sure that you do that jewel fusion thingy away from any of the shrine buildings. You never know what will happen when you mess with ancient magics."

Kagome and Inuyasha had to admit that she had a good point. Kagome gave her mom the herbs that she had gathered in the Feudal Era so that she could plant them for her since Kagome didn't have time at the moment. She actually had a really nice collection going. They went up to Kagome's room and to her desk where the shards were usually kept. Inuyasha looked all over the desk and on the floor, panicking. "Kagome, WHERE are the jewel shards?!"

Kagome smirked and reached for the bottle with the shard in it in the center of her desk. As soon as she touched it, Inuyasha saw it. He looked at her for an explanation. "I asked Kaede about standing barrier spells. It blocks the energy of the shards and is undetectable to anyone but the caster. It keeps anyone else from being able to see the shards or even know that a barrier is there. It is attached to the bottle so if they are knocked from the desk, then the barrier will still hide them from sight. If someone starts to set something down there, the space will make the person set the object a certain distance away from it. The barrier is also impenetrable. I tried to make sure all of the possibilities were covered."

Inuyasha looked suitably impressed for a moment before feigning his usual bored expression and saying, "Let's get this over with."

Kagome nodded and they left the house and went a suitable distance behind the well house. Kagome took a deep breath and uncorked the bottle and dumped the shards into her hand. Then she looked at Inuyasha and slowly took off her necklace and brought the majority of the jewel to meet the shards in her hand. There was a blinding flash of light as the jewel was made whole and then…

* * *

I know I'm evil. If anyone actually cared about this story enough to feel disappointed then I would feel bad, but they don't! So I feel perfectly fine. I think that the story is progressing nicely but there is still plenty more to go.

Until next time…


	9. Chapter 8

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters associated with it.

* * *

Chapter Eight

Inuyasha and Kagome both became aware of their surroundings at the same time. They were in a completely white space. There didn't seem to be a ceiling, walls, or even a floor, even though what they seemed to be standing on seemed solid enough. Suddenly a more than slightly familiar woman appeared in front of them. It took a moment but Kagome finally managed a "Midoriko?"

The woman in front of them nodded. She looked a lot different than she did in the cave, but then again stone doesn't make the most flattering of impressions. But the cave wasn't the only reason that she looked familiar. Although Kagome couldn't quite put her finger on it, she was sure that she had seen someone who looked like her before.

Like Kagome, Inuyasha was thinking the same thing, but unlike her, he knew who Midoriko reminded him of. He wasn't going to say anything yet, but if he was right, then they had a whole new problem.

Kagome decided that they had more important things to worry about than who Midoriko reminded her of. "So, what happens now? Why are we here?"

Midoriko smiled. "You are here because there are some things that I need to explain and discuss with you. Then you have some decisions to make, but we will get to them later. First of all, I know that you have noticed that I seem slightly familiar to you. Inuyasha has even partially figured it out himself. I may not look as similar to you as Kikyo but there is still a remarkable resemblance."

Kagome gasped, finally placing where she had seen Midoriko before. She saw her every time she looked in the mirror. Her first thought was, _Oh no, not another incarnation!_

Midoriko laughed, noticing the look of horror on Kagome's face. "I'm sure that I won't be as much trouble as Kikyo was and still is from the looks of your thoughts."

_Hey, I resent that! _

Kagome ignored Kikyo; she had just thought of something. "You can't be my incarnation, because your soul is part of the Shikon No Tama."

Midoriko smiled. "Only part of our soul is. That is one of the reasons that none of my reincarnations lived very long up until Kikyo had the jewel burned with her. It is also one of the reasons that she was so perfect to be the guardian of the jewel. When she was around I was stronger and was able to fight off the evil souls of the youkai in the jewel, thus allowing the jewel to be purified. But even with the jewel in her possession, it was not close enough. Kikyo began to weaken. If she was at her best then that curse from that other miko wouldn't have worked. I think at least part of it was the soul separation, like what you went through and what you will go through if I don't put the jewel back where it belongs. It has to be tied to your soul, back inside your body where it can be constantly purified and kept from evil. I know that this is not what you expected when you completed the jewel. You expected to make one wish and have it disappear. I think that it is only appropriate that you get more wishes than just the one since you will continue being the jewel's guardian, even though it will be a lot easier now that every youkai in the vicinity will not be able to since it. That is one of the reasons that you were never attacked by youkai before the centipede. Only those with intimate knowledge of the jewel can sense it when it is kept hidden that way and most of the youkai with that knowledge are long dead. The centipede had ingested it before and knew its power. But, back to the wishes, now there will be some rules that I will explain now. You will have to come back to this era; although there is something that I want you to do that will require you to go back to the Feudal Era. You will be allowed to stay there until you are ready to make your wishes, but it cannot be forever, only a reasonable amount of time. Secondly, I understand that you plan to adopt a small kitsune?" Kagome nodded. "Then you can bring him with you to this time if he wishes it. There may be others too but the events of the past's future are a little hazy at the moment for me to say for sure. Also, after you make your wishes, the Bone Eater's Well will no longer work. It was an instrument of destiny only. It lets only those that were meant to go through go through at the right time. Kikyo wasn't totally wrong. The shards have almost nothing to do with it. Everything that happened happened the way that it was supposed to. I think that is about it for the rules. If you were anyone else then I would probably have to go in depth about what you can and cannot do, specifically, but you are not Inuyasha." At that Inuyasha glared at the miko. Midoriko laughed. "I think that I could get used to baiting him, but, alas, when I become part of you, you will have already left him." She sighed. "I never get to have any fun. Well, back to the wishes!" Midoriko glared at Kagome. "And you know I _can_ read your thoughts! I am _not_ as bad as Kikyo at getting off track! Now look what you made me do! What was I going to say again? Oh, right!" She snapped her fingers. "I've heard of some sort of 'genie' myth where you get three wishes. That seems fair. You will have three wishes to use at the time when you are ready to say your goodbyes and come home."

Kagome, still hesitant from where the miko had yelled at her before, asked. "Didn't you say that you had some sort of task for me to complete for you?"

Midoriko beamed. "Oh, of course. I forgot! I would like for you to go to the cave and pick up my sword for me. All you have to do is touch it and it will separate from the stone and turn back to what it was in life. I believe that the youkai-slayer's village isn't too far from Lord Sesshomaru's palace. It was my weapon of choice much as the bow was yours and Kikyo's. You should adapt pretty well to it once I'm apart of you again, although it would help if you got some instruction from someone else beforehand so that they can do some hands-on teaching. It is so much easier when your body actually knows what is going on and can do what your mind is telling it to do."

Kagome was digesting this when she suddenly realized. "Oh my GOD! I'm going to have another one inside my head, making me want to knock myself out just to escape them! It's to the nut house for me."

Midoriko glared again at Kagome while Inuyasha was wondering, _What is Kagome talking about?_

Midoriko suddenly looked inside Kagome's memories of her 'discussions' with Kikyo and laughed. "I see what you mean. I promise to be a lot quieter than her and I will explain that we need to keep the arguing to a minimum. But at least you will never be lonely…"

Kagome looked at Inuyasha, suddenly realizing that he was there. He was probably really confused about now. It would just be too awkward if he found out that Kikyo was 'living' inside her head. It was better to have him think that she was just spacing out all the time. She tried to distract him and Midoriko from saying any more on the subject. "Shouldn't we be getting back? We need to tell Mom what happened and get back to the Feudal Era."

Thankfully Inuyasha was easily distracted most of the time. "Yeah, I guess. Why do we have to go to Sesshomaru's again?"

"Because he agreed when Miroku asked that they could have the wedding there. He is supposed to be asking Sango again right now. Plus that is where you will be living and Miroku and Sango will be close by."

Midoriko smiled. "I will leave you now. Remember, don't wait too long to make your wishes. I believe that you will know when the time is right." Their white surroundings faded with her last few words, as did she. Kagome looked down at the now complete jewel for the first time since it had come out of her body. It was beautiful…but it had caused so much pain and suffering, just by existing. But maybe it wasn't the jewel's fault. It was the evilness of the beings that used it that tainted it. She didn't think that the jewel itself was evil. But the fact remained that it was made partly of youkai souls. So maybe she was completely wrong.

They quickly went into the house and told Mrs. Higurashi about what happened. They told her that Kagome would be living in the past for a few more months and that when she returned home for good there would probably be some new additions to the household. She was going to take a leave of absence from school, since she didn't want to bother with coming back every time she had a test. Kagome ran up to her room to get her big yellow pack that was already stocked with food and chocolate for Shippo. She packed took off her suit that she had bought for the fight with Naraku as she had been wearing it none stop for three days. It was dirty, even if she did try to wash it in the hot springs every night while she bathed. Luckily she had bought an extra and she packed it along with some of the miko garb that she had had made. Some were the traditional red like Kikyo's had been, but as she had still been jealous of Kikyo at the time, she hadn't had many made in that color. Most were black, but she had some purple, yellow, green, and blue ones made too. She figured that these outfits were more appropriate that the school uniform that she normally traveled in, even if Grandpa had almost had a heart attack when he had seen that she was going to wear hakama that were a different color than the traditional red. At least in these people wouldn't think that she was a youkai or, worse, a harlot! Before, she probably wouldn't have worn them in the Feudal Era, but now that she and Kikyo had resolved their differences, for the most part, she felt comfortable at the thought of wearing them. Kikyo understood the compromise with the colors, even if Grandpa didn't. The point was to allow her to perform her duties and it didn't matter what color they wore to do that.

Once she was all packed, she kissed and hugged her mom goodbye and waited while her mom cried all over Inuyasha again before she reached up and rubbed his ears for the last time. Sota was in school and Grandpa was away so they weren't around to say bye but Mrs. Higurashi would fill them in later.

As they were about to go out the door the phone rang. Mrs. Higurashi answered and handed the phone to Kagome. "It's for you, dear."

"Hello? Oh hi! I haven't talked to you in a long time. How's…Okaaaaaayyyyyyy, did you pull any of your normal stunts? What do you mean 'what do I mean'?! The same thing you always pull….Well, excuse me if I happen to think that looking up a girl's skirt or grabbing her chest every time you want to get her attention is _very _deserving of a slap. I swear, you remind me so much of Miroku…well, at least you don't ask every pretty girl you meet to bare your child. Although, it seemed to work for him, as he is getting married soon. No, you can_not_ meet him. There is no need to get the two biggest perverts in the world in the same room with each other. WHAT?! You asked her to marry you? When? Did she agree?" There was a silence on both ends of the conversation for a while. Then came his answer. "WHAT?! Well, it's no wonder that she said that. I would too. She's not going to see you for God knows how long! How would you feel if she just up and decided that she needed to go somewhere and told you to wait for her and, _maybe_ you will get married when you come back? Where _exactly_ are you going? To train? Can't you train a little closer to home? What kind of 'special training'? Well, if you were this forthcoming with her, I can see why she reacted the way she did. You are clueless. Just about all you think about is fighting. You are _soooo_ immature. Don't you dare use that kind of language when you talk to me! I can still beat the living hell out of you if you irritate me too much! I don't care how big and bad you think you are! You had better apologize!" Kagome was silent for a moment as she listened to whoever was on the other end of the line. "I wish we could get together before you leave too. Yes, I realize that we haven't done more than talk on the phone for over two years. But, I'm going to be out of the country for a while. Well, since you are being so ambiguous about your plans I'm going to return the favor. WHAT did I tell you about that language? Good luck with your training and you had better call me when you get back. If I'm back by then we can all get together and catch up, IF she will still speak to you." Kagome listened for a little bit and then rolled her eyes. "I love you too. Bye." Kagome hung up the phone and turned to where Inuyasha was standing with his mouth handing open. "If you don't close your mouth, Inuyasha, something is bound to fly into it."

Inuyasha snapped out of his shock. He yelled, "Just WHO was that?! Was it that Hobo guy? I swear, if you started going out with that wimp without telling me Kagome I will KILL him!"

Kagome sighed. "It's Hojo, and no I'm not going out with him. That was just a friend that I have known since elementary school." At Inuyasha's blank look, Kagome elaborated. "In other words, since I was about five. We had crushes on each other for about four years before I had to change schools. We are still great friends, along with his girlfriend. We just don't see each other very often. We actually have not seen each other in a couple of years. First, he was too busy and then I fell down the well and you know how often I get to come home. We usually just talk on the phone. The 'I love you' started because he decided to forget that the crush was mutual and started saying it to tease me. Although I'm sure it's true, we are _just_ friends. He's actually my best friend in this time. His girlfriend, and maybe fiancé, was my best friend before I even knew him. At least I get to see her occasionally. Even if I was interested in him, I would never hurt her by acting on it. He actually reminds me a lot of you…always looking to become stronger, always fighting and trying to keep from appearing soft. He's rude, obnoxious, disrespectful to elders, but actually very caring and protective of the ones that he cares about…"

"Feh. I thought that you said that he reminded you of Miroku. And there is no way that I'm anything like that perverted monk."

"He reminds me of both of you, but mostly of you. Let's drop this subject. We have to get back to the past." With that, Inuyasha shrugged Kagome's pack over his shoulder and they made their way to the well.

* * *

Weeeellllllllll…I can't really think of anything to say. Other than the fact that I don't know if the color red for the hakama (pants) signifies any special religious thing and I hope that I'm not insulting the religion and if I am, I don't mean to. And, yes, the person on the other end of the line will play an important role in the story at some point in the future. Hope you like it.

The next few chapters get a little sappy. Just a warning.


	10. Chapter 9

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters associated with it.

Chapter Nine

---Feudal Era---

After they made it out of the well, they made their way to the village. "Inuyasha, I don't want to go into a long drawn out speech about what happened right when we get back. Let's just tell them the bare minimum and save the details for tonight. Kaede said that she is coming back with us anyway to be near the rest of you since she found a younger replacement miko for the village, so all of us will be there to listen then."

Inuyasha nodded. "I think that that would be alright as long as everyone understands that you are not here permanently."

They finally arrived at the village and everyone ran up to meet Kagome and Inuyasha. Shippo threw himself at her and sobbed, "I thought you were never coming back!"

Kagome hugged him and told everyone, "I'm not back permanently. This is only temporary. I promise to tell you all tonight at camp everything that happened, but for right now I would like the chance to process it all myself." Everyone agreed reluctantly, knowing that it wouldn't help to try to pry it out of her. Just then Koga burst out of Kaede's hut and yelled, "I KNEW that my woman would be back!"

Kaede had everything that she wanted to take with her in a horse and wagon, so it didn't take them long to start their journey, although it would take _much_ longer to get to their destination since there was no way that a horse and wagon was going to be able to travel at the same speed as demons.

---At the Campfire that Night---

Everyone looked up when Kagome came back grinning and soaking wet. They made room for her at the fire just as a not smiling hanyou came stomping up to the fire, glaring at Kagome. He had dried off in the way that all dogs do, but the group could tell that he had had a similar run in with the same stream that Kagome had. The rest of the group knew better than to ask what had happened, but they could guess. This was almost an exact replay of what had happened on the way to the village. Kagome had decided that Inuyasha+waterfunny (who said that there wasn't _some _math that she understood) so she had come up behind Inuyasha and was about to push him into the stream when she tripped. They had both ended up in the stream and Inuyasha had gotten really red in the face. Kagome, seeing the gathering storm clouds around Inuyasha's head, decided that it would be a good time to run for her life to the campfire on the assumption that there was safety in numbers. She was right to run but Inuyasha was feeling lenient toward her since according to Midoriko, he would soon have to let her go for sure and he decided to just let it go in an uncharacteristic move. Everyone started talking and reminiscing about past adventures when all that they really wanted was to hear the rest of what had happened in Kagome's time when the jewel was completed.

Kagome finally broached the subject that she had been thinking on for a while. She had been kicking herself for not doing this before the jewel was fully assembled. "Inuyasha, I have decided that I cannot give you the jewel to make yourself either a full demon or a full human."

Inuyasha looked shocked and then angry. "WHAT?! I thought that we had discussed this."

Kagome just looked at him. "Do you even know what you want?"

Inuyasha started to yell at her "Of course, I want to become a full demon!" but he ended up just staring at her in silence. He _had_ thought about it, especially after his demon half had been let loose. He didn't want to hurt anyone, but he didn't want to be a weak human either. But if he stayed a hanyou, then he risked being separated from Tetsusaiga and turning into a monster again. Next time, Kagome may not be around or she might not be able to stop him. He realized that she was right; he really didn't know what he wanted. He didn't really know what to say so he just kept silent and hoped that she would understand him.

Kagome looked at him with compassion. She understood his thoughts, probably better than he did. It was confusing to have so many conflicting desires and not know which to choose.

Inuyasha looked up at Kagome and saw that she really did understand. She was always like that. She knew him better than anyone. He would never admit it but, even though he said that she wasn't strong and was useless, he knew that he would have been dead a long time ago if not for her. Whenever he needed her, she was there.

"Inuyasha, you are my best friend. We may fight a lot but that doesn't matter. If you became either a full demon or a full human, then you wouldn't be Inuyasha anymore. I love you too much to allow you to make a huge mistake and change yourself. I want you to know that I have made up my mind what to wish for. Midoriko said that I can have three wishes instead of just the one since I have to continue to be the jewel's guardian and give up my friends. After I make the wishes I will go back to where I was meant to be and will never be able to return to the Fuedal Era again. I will miss you all so much but I cannot avoid my duty forever. I love you all, but this must be done soon." By the time that Kagome had finished her speech, everyone was crying, even Inuyasha, although he tried to hide it.

"Mama, don't go!" Shippo cried.

"Midoriko said that I could bring you with me, Shippo, if you wanted to go. Unfortunately, you are the only one that I know for sure will be able to go. Midoriko said something about 'others' maybe being able to go, but I don't think that everyone will." Shippo was both delighted and saddened by this news. He didn't want to be separated from his adopted mother but he would miss all his friends, too. He suddenly realized that this must be how Kagome felt, only she had to fell ten times worse because of her responsibility to the jewel.

"At least you will have each other." Sango said with tears in her eyes. She laid her head on Miroku's shoulder and for once the perverted monk didn't try anything. He just held her and said, "We will all miss you, Lady Kagome."

"I thought we were past all the 'lady' stuff?!"

"It just seemed appropriate. I have finally convinced Sango to marry me. Will you wait to make your wishes until after the wedding?"

Kagome squealed at the news and ran over to the other side of the fire to hug Sango and Miroku. "I am so happy for you guys! Of course I'll wait. I almost forgot! Midoriko also said that I had to go to your village, Sango, and get her sword. It seems that I am her reincarnation as well as Kikyo's." She explained to them how Midoriko explained to her. "So I have to make a little journey. Do you think that you all want to come with me?" Everyone agreed, except for Koga.

Koga had been silent the whole time but now he spoke up. "I guess we were never meant to be, huh Kagome? A part of me will always love you, but I guess that I will have to move on. I cannot watch you leave. Accept my congratulations on the wedding. I will send a gift at a later date. Goodbye, Kagome." Koga gently kissed her cheek and gave her a hug before turning to run into the forest, not as fast as with the jewel shards, but still faster than normal youkai.

Everyone was silent for a while. Surprisingly, Inuyasha did not even try to kill Koga for touching Kagome. He knew just how the wolf felt.

Kinda sad and happy at the same time, huh?

I just had to get rid of Koga. I kept forgetting that he was there.

Bye for now!


	11. Chapter 10

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters associated with it.

Chapter Ten

When they finally made it to Sesshomaru's palace just over a week later, Kagome was greeted by a hyperactive, cute little girl being chased after by a short, ugly youkai. Rin jumped into Kagome's arms. "Rin knew you would be back! Can you come play in the garden?"

Kagome groaned. She just wanted a nice, hot bath. She was exhausted but she just couldn't disappoint the girl. She was just about to agree when Jaken spoke up. "Rin, you know that dinner is going to be served soon, and they need to get cleaned up. As do you."

The girl just smiled, yelled "Bye!" and ran back into the palace to find her favorite lord.

Kagome couldn't help but be relieved. Jaken showed them to their rooms. Luckily, the boys were in a different wing and were not shown where the girls would be bathing. Miroku would have almost no chance of finding them. The girls had rooms next to each other, with a room with a natural hot spring in it connecting them. Shippo was sharing Kagome's room and Kirara was in Sango's room. Kaede got a cottage all to herself on the grounds, since she didn't feel comfortable in the palace.

Kagome had to restrain herself from running and jumping in the hot spring with all her clothes still on. She was surprised that she could even think of running anywhere, as tired as she was. A servant informed them that dinner would be served at sunset, which was about an hour and a half off. They were also informed that they would have to 'dress for dinner.' With that, the servants opened Kagome's closet and the girls gasped at the beautiful array of formal kimonos that it held. They were informed that Sango's closet held the same.

The first thing that the girls did when the servants left was get undressed and sink down into the water. Shippo and Kirara were taking a nap together on Kagome's bed. The girls talked about the upcoming wedding and continued on until Shippo joined them, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

Kagome smiled at him. "It's about time that you that you woke up to take your bath." Shippo ran to her, shedding his clothes as he went. When he got to the edge, he cannonballed into the middle of the springs, splashing both Sango and Kagome. They both just shielded their faces and laughed, used to his antics.

They finally got out and got dressed. Both girls were exclaiming over their beautiful kimonos. Sango's was deep burgundy silk with ivy trailing down it. Kagome's was dark blue silk with cherry blossom's falling down its sides. Both girls put their hair in buns, which was the best that they could do as neither was really good with hair. Someone had delivered some clothes for Shippo while they had been in the springs and he was wearing a plain dark green kimono.

A servant appeared at the door to show them to the informal dining room. Sesshomaru's palace was truly amazing. It had pure white stone that never seemed to get dirty and black marble floors. The only thing that saved it from being kind of sterile was the tapestries and portraits on the walls. They finally made it to the dining room where everyone else was waiting. Both Miroku and Inuyasha stared at the girls so long that they blushed. Miroku came up to Sango and whispered something in her ear that caused her to turn even redder before slapping him hard across the face, keeping her promise to hit him extra hard for Kagome. Kagome was only surprised that he had lasted this long. Miroku was of the opinion that the slap was worth it. He loved making Sango blush. Sesshomaru was still not used to this behavior, but was willing to tolerate it without comment as it was mildly amusing. Rin was watching it all with avid interest, like a modern era child would watch cartoons.

Everyone took their seats as dinner was served. While they were eating, Kagome filled the rest in on what happened. When she was done, Sesshomaru said, "This Sesshomaru recommends that you start your journey to get the sword tomorrow. You cannot afford to lose any time that could be better spent training with me."

"So you're willing to train me?"

"Yes, but you may not be so happy once we have begun. This Sesshomaru shows no mercy, not even to allies."

Kagome was happy that she had gotten the task of finding a teacher out of the way. She had been afraid that she would have to rely on Inuyasha to teach her, and God knows that although he somehow managed to defeat the enemy almost every time, he didn't seem to know the first thing about how to do anything other than swing the sword around and hope that it hits the other guy. And that seemed to work for him, but she didn't think that it would work for her. First of all, she didn't have the strength or speed that he had. Second, she was human and couldn't afford to take as many serious injuries as he did on a regular basis. Plus, she doubted that Midoriko would put up with her being anything but perfect with a sword.

_Yes, anything worth doing is worth doing right._

_Kikyo, I thought you were sulking._

_No, I was thinking about all the things that I have to teach you as well. There are many things that you need to be taught. It took me almost my entire life to learn all that I know and I am still learning. You will also need to study with Kaede to see if there is anything that she can teach you that I cannot. Although she lacks our power, she has all the knowledge that her years allow her and we cannot hope to match her in that area, at least not until Midoriko joins us. Even then I'm not sure. I was only seventeen when I died and Midoriko looks to be in her early-twenties. _

Kagome groaned. It looked like she had a long few months ahead of her.

This chapter was mostly a filler, but also served a purpose. I know that I don't mention Jaken much, but up until now I haven't really had a use for him. For some reason I can't seem to write anything about him that seems even remotely in character. Oh, well.

On to the next chapter!


	12. Chapter 11

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters associated with it.

**Warning:** Violence and torture. Definite cases of child abuse and the torture of a little animal. I won't always be so forthcoming on the warnings especially the ones pertaining to violence so don't get used to it. I may forget to put it in the beginning of the chapter in other cases. I'm not even sure if this case calls for all these warnings, but I included everything that I could possibly think of in this chapter that would even remotely deserve a warning.

Chapter Eleven

---In the Forest, Heading Towards Sango's Village---

_Kikyo, I've had enough lessons for today. Everyone is starting to give me weird looks because I haven't said anything all morning. Can't we just enjoy the scenery or start an argument with Inuyasha? _Kikyo had been instructing her on the herbs that she hadn't already learned of from Kaede and telling her what types of medicine or spells they were used for. It was quite interesting, in small doses, certainly more interesting than most of the things that they taught in school, but Kagome's attention couldn't help but wander over to the pretty flowers around the herbs. It was a beautiful day. At least in school you could pretend to be paying attention, but, when your teacher is privy to your every thought, it was kind of hard to do that in this situation.

_I suppose that we could take a _little_ break. I wouldn't have thought that tormenting someone would be so fun._

_Are you referring to tormenting _me_ or Inuyasha?_

Kikyo thought for a second. _Both._

Kagome sighed and ran up to walk with Inuyasha. "Are you sure that you should have come along? You know that tonight there is a new moon?"

"Feh. Since when has that stopped me? Even as a human I can take on whatever youkai comes at me!"

"Inuyasha." Kagome said exasperatedly. "Why don't you just say it? You didn't want to be left alone with Rin. You would have had to play her 'doggie' and put up with the ear-rubbing because, even though you and Sesshomaru have a truce, you know that he would try to kill you again if you made her cry."

"Feh. I'm not afraid of my stupid brother." Inuyasha mumbled, not bothering to deny the charge of trying to get away from Rin. It was a testament to how far the brothers had progressed in their relationship that he didn't tack on the half- to the brother. "Plus, who would be here to protect you if I wasn't around to do the job?"

Sango and Miroku glared at Inuyasha playfully, having become wise to his ways long ago. "And what are we, chopped liver?" They had heard Kagome use the phrase and had decided that they liked it. They bantered back and forth with Inuyasha for a while before going back to their wedding plans discussion that they were having before.

Inuyasha and Kagome walked in silence for a while. "Oi, Kagome?"

Kagome looked up at Inuyasha. "Yes?"

"Why have you been so quiet all day? It's usually hard to get you to shut up."

"What do you mean by THAT?! Are you saying that I'm a blabber mouth?!"

"NO! Kagome, I didn't mean it! Don't…"

"Osuwari!"

Inuyasha felt the power of the prayer beads drag him down to the ground to form a very small indention in the dirt. It was quite a bit smaller than usual and the impact of the ground hitting his face barely even stung. _Something must _really_ be wrong with Kagome! _Inuyasha thought worriedly.

The rest of the group stopped to stare at the two: one on the ground looking worriedly at the other from his small crater and the other breathing heavily, looking angry. Then something really scary happened. Kagome switched from glaring at Inuyasha to beaming happily and said, "Thanks, Inuyasha. I needed that." Kagome turned around and started skipping down the path towards the village.

Inuyasha couldn't believe his ears. _Was she just using me to let off some steam? How _dare_ she!_ "Oi, Kagome! Did you sit me just because you were in a bad mood?!"

Kagome turned around to smile brightly at him. "No, but it sure did wonders for my stress level!"

Inuyasha really didn't know what to say to that so they continued on their way, bantering back and forth and talking about the usual stuff and the upcoming wedding. Miroku got slapped a couple of times and then got hit on the head with Hiraikotsu because of his inappropriate comment about the wedding night. He had to be carried for a while on Kirara until he woke up.

All in all, it was a typical afternoon for the ex-shard hunters, except for the fact that there were no more shards to collect.

Sango's village wasn't really all that far from Sesshomaru's palace. They were only an hour or two away from the village by sunset and Inuyasha's subsequent change. They decided to keep on traveling to the safety of the village because of Inuyasha's vulnerability, even though said vulnerability was never mentioned as the reason.

They were almost at the village when Kagome suddenly looked sharply into the forest to her left. She wasn't exactly sure what she was sensing. It was youki but it seemed that they were farther away than she could usually sense, which, admittedly wasn't very far, but that made this even weirder. These youkai didn't seem to be anything special, nothing that should have drawn her attention anyway. They were about three miles off, when she could usually only sense youki when it was right in front of her, and the only way that she could sense it then was if she was looking for it and if the youkai wasn't hiding it…or it had a jewel shard. _It's because you are improving. You should be able to feel a certain youkai anywhere in Japan if you try hard enough and concentrate, at least when we have our full soul again. I think that we have a range of about ten miles right now._

_But there are other youkai closer than these. Why would I notice these particular youkai?_

_No idea._

_Well, you're certainly helpful._

The others didn't really notice anything peculiar, so they just kept walking. Strangely, they were getting used to Kagome spacing out in the middle of a conversation, such as the one Sango had been having with her when she had noticed the youkai. They figured that she would eventually come out of it and tell them what she had been thinking if it was important.

Kagome had lost interest in the youkai and had resumed her conversation with Sango, while moving the youkai presence to the back of her mind, when she suddenly heard the scream of a child in her mind from where she had pushed the youkai presence. She knew that it was too far away for her to run it quickly enough to save the child. Without a word to anyone other than a quick call of "Kirara!" similar to the tone that Sango always used to call her for battle, Kagome ran and jumped on a transformed Kirara and told her to hurry in the direction that she had felt the youkai. She cursed the fact that she had neglected to bring her bow. She didn't know what she was going to do when she came upon the youkai, but she figured that Kikyo could tell her how to do one of those energy ball thingies.

Kirara seemed to catch on to her urgency and put on an extra burst of speed that would work for short distances without unduly tiring her. When they were about a hundred feet away from the youkai, they descended. Kagome desperately wanted to just go straight to the child, but she wasn't stupid. She told Kirara to go and get the rest of the group for backup and then ran into the clearing where the youkai were kicking an unmoving sack on the ground.

The youkai didn't seem to notice her. There were about twelve of them, bandits by the look of them. They were mostly human-looking but with some distinct youkai features. For the most part they were not pretty. In fact most of them would have been pretty nauseating to look at if you weren't used to seeing hideous sights on a daily basis as Kagome was. But it was the leader that made even Kagome nauseous. He was beautiful…but the look in his eyes was sickening. His eyes shown with pure evil in a way that even Naraku's didn't. Or maybe Naraku was just better at hiding it.

The leader's attention was on a youkai child being held by one of the bandits. The child couldn't have been more than Souta's age. He had black hair that stood on end and big crimson eyes. His youki was different than any of the other demons that she had ever come across. It was like he was a hanyo, but without the human part. This must be what happens when two pure youkai of different races mix. He seemed to be a fire youkai at first, but Kagome could sense ice deep in his core. It was quite strange. Since she couldn't explain it, she put it in the back of her mind for Kikyo to ponder while she continued to access the situation. He was wearing rags that made some of the ones worn by the poorest villagers look like robes worn by royalty. They had holes everywhere and barely covered him. Kagome didn't know it but the fact that they barely covered him was intentional. He was crying angry tears as the bandits forced him to watch them kick whatever was in the sack. But what caught Kagome's attention was the fact that, instead of tears, beautiful jewels were falling out of his eyes. Kagome had the stray thought that if jewels came out of your eyes, crying into your pillow must not be very satisfying or comfortable because of all the jewels piling up under your face.

Just before she was about to jump into the midst of the bandits to save the boy something that the leader was saying caught her attention. "Yes, keep crying. We may not be able to make you cry anymore by doing damage to you, but we can still find other ways. Be sure not to kill it. We need to get all the tear jewels out of torturing that little cat that we can. Then you all can have all the fun with both the cat and the boy that you want while I count our jewels."

"But Boss, I thought that the boy was your personal plaything?" asked one of the other bandits. "We all know how much you hate to share."

"I have grown tired of him now that he doesn't cry anymore. He is now yours as long as you don't kill him."

Kagome couldn't believe that anyone could be so evil as to do what she thought that they were talking about. She had heard about it on the news but had never personally come into contact with it. She had thought that she had seen as evil as it could get with Naraku, but the leader of these bandits put him to shame. Anyone who could do that to a child didn't deserve to live. She could feel herself losing control of her power and Kikyo wasn't helping because she wanted to kill them as much as Kagome did. The only thing that held her back was the fact that the boy was a demon and could be hurt by her purification. She had to get control.

"Let go of that boy now." Kagome said in a chilling voice that she didn't know that she was capable of; if Sesshomaru had heard it, he would have been _very_ impressed. It made all the bandits' blood run cold at the thinly veiled menace in her tone. The youkai holding the boy actually loosened his hold before the leader came to his senses and told them to hold the boy while he faced this new and as yet unseen enemy.

When he turned around and saw Kagome he laughed. "What to you want, little girl? Did you want to play with us too? I need something to amuse me now that the boy has ceased to do so."

"You disgust me. Let the boy go now, before I am forced to purify all of you."

"So the little girl thinks that she is a miko. And on top of that, she thinks that she can defeat all of us at once. We can't let her continue in her delusions. Boys?" The leader said in a mocking tone.

Kagome had ceased to fight for control and had settled into an icy rage. She could feel her power rising to the surface and ready to be let out as violently as her rage demanded. When the first youkai charged at her, she reacted on instinct and let her power out. It took the shape of a bow and arrow, as that was the weapon she was most familiar with. She shot first the demon charging her and then, in the next instant in less than the time that it took the leader to blink, shot the bandit holding the boy, instantly purifying both bandits.

"Run." She told the boy, not even taking her eyes off the other charging bandits. As quick as lightning, she shot five more youkai before finally glancing down at the boy. He was staring at the ground as if not able to comprehend that he was being saved. "Go." She told him again.

He finally snapped out of his reverie and ran to get the sack on the ground that the bandits had been kicking earlier. He spoke for the first time. "I won't leave. You're just a weak human, and an onna on top of that. You'll need my help to defeat the leader."

Kagome wondered at him. _Now why does _that_ sound so familiar?_ "Well, if you're going to help, get behind me. I would hate to accidentally purify you. My friends should be getting here soon to help."

"Hn. More weak humans won't help much. You're a miko so you're not completely useless, but regular humans would just get in the way."

Kagome smiled. _Well, at least they didn't break his spirit. He must have a very strong soul._ Just as she finished that thought she heard her friends crash through into the clearing.

"_What _the HELL?! Why did you take off like that wench? Who the hell are you?" Inuyasha demanded of the leader of the bandits. Then he saw the condition of the boy. Kagome knew that she had had the same look in her eyes a few minutes ago and probably still had it. Their eyes met and Kagome didn't need to tell him anything. He could read it all in her eyes, they were so full of banked rage. They had been together long enough that he could guess what had happened to put that look in her eyes, even if he had never seen it before. Add that to the look in the boy's eyes beneath the contempt that he was currently showing and Inuyasha immediately went from angry to almost the level of rage that Kagome was currently experiencing. Miroku and Sango made similarly accurate assumptions. Luckily Shippo was still on Kirara's back, who was flying at a safe distance above their heads.

The group immediately after that silent, but effective, communication went into battle mode. Inuyasha may not have been able to transform Tetsusaiga, but he could hit harder than most youkai even in his human form. Kagome smiled chillingly. "The leader is mine."

No one dared argue with Kagome so they nodded. With that, they all attacked as one and went after their selected target. Sango took on two youkai at once with her Hiraikotsu. Miroku swung at one particularly ugly youkai with his Shakujo (staff). Inuyasha went after the biggest one, who also happened to be the smelliest. _I'm lucky that I'm in my human form. Otherwise I would probably have passed out by now._ As it was he was having a hard time breathing but that didn't stop him from repeatedly smashing the youkai's face with his fists.

Meanwhile, Kagome was facing the leader with the boy behind her. "His weak spot is between his legs." The little boy whispered.

Kagome smiled. He must be younger than she thought if he thought that that was a special weak spot. It also showed that he had fought him, not that she had doubted it before given how spirited he was. Just to humor him, when she attacked the leader she hit him hard in said place. _I'm lucky that he's such a weakling. I don't have a weapon that is good for such close fighting. My miko power should be enough. _As she finished that thought the leader was kneeling on the ground about to get up. She grabbed him by the shoulders and looked into his eyes. They were full of fear as he looked into the eyes that were starting to glow pink in preparation. "Not so arrogant now when it's you on the receiving end of a beating, are you? Prepare to die." Her eyes glowed more brightly.

_Finish him now, but slowly. Let the power burn him from the inside out._

Kagome smiled, but it wasn't her usual nice smile. _For once we are in complete agreement, Kikyo._ The youkai under her hands started to glow pink as her miko energy slowly burned his insides until there was nothing left.

She turned around to look at the boy and immediately all the emotions that she had been suppressing came rushing forth. "I can't stand anyone who would do that to a child." The boy was currently looking at her in admiration and not a little fear. She couldn't bear to be the one who put fear in his eyes and grabbed him, fell to her knees, and started to sob. "I won't let anyone hurt you again as long as you stay with me." She promised in between sobs.

The boy, never having had to comfort a crying woman, especially one who had shown such power and strength less than a minute before, looked at a loss as to what to do and slightly panicked.

Miroku walked up to him and patted his shoulder, all of her friends having finished their fights before Kagome and had had time to watch the end of her fight. "Don't worry. It will pass. No man is immune to female tears. It makes us feel like clods. It's normal to be discomfited."

The boy jerked away from Miroku's touch before he could stop himself. To cover the action, he said, "Hn. This onna had better stop crying soon while I am still in an understanding mood." Contrary to his words, he awkwardly started to pat her on the shoulder.

Sango walked up to the boy and handed him a bag full of his tear jewels. "I believe that these are yours?"

The boy looked at the bag in distaste before snatching it out of her hand. He then went back to comforting Kagome.

When Kagome finally stopped crying she looked up at her friends and gasped. "You are all hurt!" She looked back at the boy. "And you're hurt worse than all of them! Hold still." _Kikyo, I need your help._

_Say no more. Close your eyes and put your hands on the boy's head and let your powers guide you. Imagine what you want to do and allow them to do it for you._

_Is it always that easy?_

_Not always but healing is a natural process that the body does anyway. You're just speeding the process up a little._

Kagome did as Kikyo instructed and put her hands on the boy's head. "Remember, don't move. I won't hurt you."

The boy didn't know why he trusted her, even if she had just saved him. For all he knew she could want him for herself. But it stood to reason that she wouldn't kill him if she wanted his tear jewels and he had withstood things that would have driven a weaker youkai crazy, especially one his age. He had been alone almost since the day he was born, when he was left for dead, tossed from his mother's village. Even though he was a newborn, he remembered that day. He had never trusted anyone but himself his whole life so he couldn't figure out why he trusted this miko, whose kind was sworn to kill all youkai. Maybe it was the look in her eyes. She seemed so pure, even when fighting and killing. Too pure to be even remotely evil. He may not know why he trusted her, but he had lived this long trusting his instincts, even if he wasn't strong enough to avoid capture by the youkai bandits. _One day I will be strong enough to defend her as she defended me, _he swore silently to himself.

Kagome watched him struggle before finally closing his eyes in acceptance. She closed her own eyes and proceeding to heal him.

The boy felt her hands on his head grow warm. He saw a glow from behind his eyes and flinched, preparing to feel the burn of purification. Instead he felt his injuries healing. He opened his eyes only to immediately close them again. The pink glow had been blinding.

When Kagome was finished she rose to her feet. "Don't go anywhere." She told the boy firmly and then went over to her friends and proceeded to heal them as well.

The boy opened his eyes in astonishment. All of his injuries were gone! A miko shouldn't have been able to heal a youkai without purifying him. He stared at Kagome as she finished healing the others. Just who was this onna?

When she was done, Kirara came down with Shippo who flew into Kagome's arms. "Mom, where did you learn to do that? Who is that boy? What happened? Why did you suddenly run off?" The questions came out a mile a minute.

While Kagome answered Shippo's questions, the boy was slowly inching away from the group. _If the onna already has a son then there was really no place for me to belong._ He picked up the sack and suddenly sprinted into the forest. If there was one thing that he excelled at, it was speed. There was no way that some weak humans would catch him.

Unfortunately, he was right. He was even too fast for Kirara. Kagome was saddened that he hadn't trusted her enough to stay. She had wanted nothing more than to protect him. But she couldn't do that if they couldn't find him and it didn't look like that was going to happen.

"Don't worry, Kagome. He seemed remarkably mature and strong for his age. I'm sure that he will be fine." Miroku said as he put his arm around the miko's shoulders. No lecherous attempts made.

Kagome sighed before looking up at Miroku and smiling. "You're probably right. He has a remarkably resilient spirit. He can survive on his own. I get the feeling that he has had lots of practice. I just wish that he didn't have to continue to do so."

The group accepted that they were not going to find the boy, especially not with Inuyasha's nose out of commission. They continued on to the village and decided to get some sleep before heading to the cave in the morning.

Well, you probably have already guessed it. It's a crossover with Yu Yu Hakusho. If you don't know who the boy is then you need to brush up on your Yu Yu story line and characters. I'm going to be taking a lot of liberties with the characters, their lives, storyline, and facts of Yu Yu Hakusho as well as that of Inuyasha. Such as the case with the bandits. They were afraid of him after a while not the other way around. He was pretty much nothing like what I'm making out to be. I'm also pretty sure _Hiei_ isn't as old as I'm making him. But that is the way I wanted to write the story, so there. You can be sure that this isn't going to be the biggest or only change that you will notice.

There is also going to be a lot of previous connections between Kagome and the Yu Yu gang, not with everyone, but a significant number. Hiei is one of them. I will try to make it seem believable, but some things will probably sound stupid and for these parts, I apologize. For example, I apologize for all the sentimental drivel of the Kikyo chapters. Also for the sudden epiphany that Inuyasha had that he didn't really love Kikyo. I just had to find a way to break them up. Of course, that was back when I still thought that this would be an Inuyasha/Kagome story. But I feel no need to keep it a secret any longer! It's a Kagome/Kurama story!!! Yay for me! Sorry to all those that would rather it be different, but if you don't like it then you can stop reading right now. Either that or write your own story with the pairings that you want. If you email the link to me, I'll try to return the favor and read your stories. I'm always looking for a good story, even though I read far too many fanfictions already.

Author's Note: **If you guys are confused as to why I think that you wouldn't know already that it is a crossover with Yu Yu Hakusho, it's because when I wrote this I didn't know if it was going to be one or not. Also, I didn't know that there was a crossover category at first so I thought that it could be a surprise. Just pretend that you didn't know that it was a crossover already. Also, I'm sorry to anyone who feels that I messed up Hiei.**

Bye!


	13. Chapter 12

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and a few characters that I will make up later, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

Chapter Twelve

---Dawn, The Next Day---

Kagome had awoke just before sunrise and found that she couldn't go back to sleep, so she decided to get up to make breakfast. To her surprise, the rest of the group had already been up and was ready to go. Sango shoved a bowl of ramen in Kagome's hands. Kagome ate quickly, making a mental note to never eat ramen again when she got home. The stuff got old after a while. As soon as she was done, they headed to the cave, which was a short ten minute walk from the village. During that time, Inuyasha transformed back into his usual hanyou self.

When they reached the cave, they all stopped before entering. Kagome spoke first. "Do you think that one of us should stay out here and hold the jewel? We don't want another repeat of last time."

Miroku stared at the cave's entrance. "I don't think that it really matters, Kagome. You may need the jewel to access the part of Midoriko's soul that is inside you and in the jewel to draw the sword."

Kagome took a deep breath and purposefully strode past the cave's barrier. The quicker this was over, the quicker they could go home to Sesshomaru's. The others made to follow her, but were repelled by the barrier.

Inuyasha got mad at the barrier and took out Tetsusaiga. "This ought to teach you to repel ME, you stupid barrier! Kaze no-"

Kagome panicked. She just knew that the wind scar was going to bounce back if he completed it! _Why_ couldn't Inuyasha use his brain once in a while? "Osuwari!"

Inuyasha was cut off and thrown to the ground by the prayer beads. "Wench! What was that for?"

Miroku glared at Inuyasha and whacked him on the head with his holy staff. "We could have been killed! You know that barriers bounce attacks back to their source. (**A/N**: I don't remember if they actually do but if they don't normally, pretend that this one does.) We aren't all part-demon and can withstand such attacks!"

Inuyasha looked sheepish. "Oh."

Kagome sighed. "I guess I'm on my own for this one. Wish me luck."

Kagome went farther into the cave with a confidence that she did not feel. She wasn't relishing the task of climbing up all those stone youkai to retrieve Midoriko's sword. The thought of those youkai waking up…she shuddered. It didn't bear thinking about.

She finally made it to the chamber that was Midoriko's tomb. As she looked at the tangled seemingly stone bodies of the numerous youkai that were surrounding Midoriko, she felt a sense of foreboding. Something important was going to happen; she was sure of it. However, she was not looking forward to climbing up all those youkai. Her eyes came to the object of her journey. The sword and scabbard were stone just as their owner was. She had no idea how she was going to get them. She sighed. "Well, it's now or never." She began her climb up what looked like a large dragon, then an ogre, then a centipede; on and on it went until she reached the top. The strongest youkai seemed to be the ones nearest Midoriko. She looked at her feet where she was climbing on a particularly fierce one. _I'm glad that I didn't have to fight these youkai._

She reached for the sword and the scabbard. As soon as she touched the hilt, a flash of pink burst in her eyes and Midoriko's stone corpse crumbled and she felt the cold metal of the hilt in her hand. She opened her eyes and saw spots everywhere; they must be the reason why some of the youkai at the base of the pile seemed to be glowing and moving. Then her vision cleared and she heard a growl. It wasn't just her eyes. The youkai were alive!

Just wanted to have a cliffhanger! Also, I think that the show refers to the bodies as being crystallized or something like that. I just think that they look like stone so that's what I put.

Just thought to mention it if I haven't already: Kagome is 17 at this point in time. If I have said something different, disregard it. I think that I'm going to have her stay in the past for a year, but that could change.

Thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter 13

**Decisions**

Author's Note: **Okay guys. Here is another update for my 21st birthday! And since I am being so generous, you guys have to listen to me vent. My birthday has always been during spring break, but for some reason my school decided to change that this year. It was the week before my birthday. And guess when my birthday is. The DAY that we get back! I have class from 5:30 to 9:30 at night and then I have to be at school the next day at 8:00 AM! I swear they did it on purpose just to spite me. Anyway I'll stop now and let you read the story. **

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and a few characters that I will make up later, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

---Back With the Rest of the Gang---

All but Shippo suddenly jerked their heads up and stood up. Inuyasha and Miroku looked at each other. "Are you feeling what I'm feeling, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha nodded. "Youki. And a lot of it. The same as it was before when Myoga took the jewel into the cave and awoke that youkai. Only times a hundred."

Sango looked horrified. "We have to get in there to help Kagome!"

"Okay, everyone, stand back. I don't care if the barrier can bounce back my Kaze no Kizu, I'm getting in that cave!" Inuyasha yelled, about to swing his sword.

Miroku stopped him and shook his head. "I have a feeling that Kagome is supposed to deal with this on her own. Plus, she has proven that she is more than capable of defeating the most powerful youkai. She has a destiny that she must fulfill on her own."

Inuyasha looked at Miroku like he was crazy. "No way am I letting Kagome deal with this or anything else on her own if I can help it! She always comes through for me. I can't just let her face these youkai by herself."

Miroku sighed. "You can try Inuyasha; just don't do any attacks with the Tetsusaiga. I couldn't face Kagome if you killed yourself with your own attacks." With that, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara went to sit on a log off to the side of the entrance to the cave. They had the perfect seat to watch Inuyasha run at the barrier again and again, only to get blown back into a tree each time. It was almost as entertaining as Kagome's "Osuwari!"

* * *

---Back with Kagome---

She couldn't believe it! All the youkai were awakening. And they all seemed to be coming after her! It seemed that they were taking up where they left off in the fight with Midoriko. She was about to try her energy bow, when the sword let off a strange pulse, kind of like the kind that Tetsusaiga emitted. She heard a whisper in her mind.

_Use me._

_Far be it for me to ignore an ancient sword_. Kagome thought a little sarcastically. But, nonetheless she withdrew the sword. There was some sort of writing on the blade but she didn't have time to examine it right that minute. No, she had about a hundred youkai to slay.

As the first youkai was about to be sliced in half by her new sword, she felt a strange power envelope the blade. She didn't have time to try to figure out what it was, but she got the sense that it wasn't threatening. _This is our destiny_. Again with the strange voice that she suspected belonged to the sword.

She defeated youkai after youkai and as she did so, she kept feeling stronger. She also got the feeling that these youkai were testing her more than out to kill her. It was quite strange, if she had time to think about it. Which she didn't!

She was finally down to one: the youkai that she had stated that she was glad she didn't have to fight. _Life is _so_ not fair_. She dove at it with her sword, much in the fashion of Inuyasha. She had next to no experience with a sword, so it only made sense to copy the only one that she had seen on a daily basis use a sword. Sure, Sango had better technique, but she rarely used her katana so Kagome didn't see enough to help her. Her technique was terrible, but what she lacked in technique, she made up for in raw power. Plus, the sword helped her a little bit by guiding itself into vital spots. Finally the last youkai was defeated. There was only a pile of dust where the big mound of youkai had been before.

_You don't understand what that was about, do you?_

_No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me. But answer me one question first: are you my sword?_

_Yes. I am called_ Guardian_. I will help you protect the jewel, along with your soul as no one will be able to take the jewel without taking your soul with it. Once you make your wishes, your soul will be forever tied to the jewel; one will not be separated from the other. In essence you will become the jewel. Only while you are alive will anyone be able to access it through you. That is one of the reasons behind that little battle just now. The youkai of the jewel are willing to accept you as their master and join their souls to yours because you defeated them in battle. If there is one thing that youkai respect, it is power. I absorbed the youkai remaining youkai souls and fused them to your soul. It was the only way that the rest of Midoriko and your soul could be safely joined with the rest of the souls in the jewel. The youkai would fight you every step of the way and the constant drain of power would kill you in time. Not to mention the assault on your sanity that they could inflict. But now that they accept you as their master, you have nothing to worry about. Although, I'm not _exactly_ sure what the side effects could be, they shouldn't be anything _too_ serious._

_Great. As if I didn't have enough to worry about, now I have a part youkai soul. Could this get any stranger?_

_My Lady, this is your destiny. You have to be strong enough to meet it. I am to help you accomplish that. But, I don't usually speak this much. It is quite possible that we will never speak again. I was just introducing myself._

_Thank God! You have no idea what my head has been like lately. It is getting awfully crowded in here._

_Your friends are waiting. The annoying white haired one is trying to break the barrier with his head._

_That's Inuyasha. And thank you for explaining that to me._

_You are welcome. Use me well._

Kagome headed back to join her friends. She didn't want Inuyasha to get brain damage from waiting to long.

* * *

---Outside---

Miroku was starting to get worried about Kagome. The youkai energy had disappeared but Kagome was still in the cave. They knew that she wasn't dead because they could sense her still inside, but that didn't mean that she wasn't hurt.

Sango wasn't worried about Kagome. She had proven that she could take care of herself when she had defeated Naraku. She was more worried about Inuyasha. He was starting to look a little dazed from his encounters with the barrier. "Inuyasha, I think that you should stop. If that barrier hasn't let you through yet, then it isn't going to let you through no matter how many times you smash it with your head. Kagome can take care of herself and if Midoriko thought that she needed help, I'm sure she would have let us through."

Inuyasha stopped to look at Sango, all three of her. "F-feh. I'm wearing it down."

Luckily, Kagome chose that moment to emerge from the cave. As she came through the barrier it dissipated. There was no longer anything to guard. "Hey guys." Then her senses were hit with a barrage of strange things. She could smell all the people in her party and the plant life and animals that surrounded the cave.

Inuyasha smiled at her kinda wobbly. "Hey." Then he fell flat on his back, passed out.

Kagome rushed over to Inuyasha, who had swirls in his eyes, kinda like she felt. "Guess I was too late. I wanted to get back before he got brain damage, but hopefully his brain will heal since he is a hanyou."

Miroku walked over to Kagome. "Kagome, what happened?"

Kagome winced and covered her ears. "You don't have to yell." Kagome grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess you all want to know that, huh?" She tells them about all the youkai, the sword, and the sword's words to her. "I know it's kinda weird. I mean I have some youkai souls! Wait does that make me a hanyou?! That would _so_ explain why my head felt like it was going to split open when you started talking and why I can smell everything." She looked down at Shippo. "You really need a bath."

Miroku smiled. "May I see the sword?" Kagome drew it and handed it to him. He examined it, paying special attention to the hilt. "This sword is extremely old. And extremely powerful. From what you have told us, it seems that this sword is alive and has a soul of its own. This sword could have only been made by a god."

"Like the Water God's trident?"

"Yes, but this sword seems to be older and the trident didn't have a soul of its own. It has the consciousness to choose its own master and I suspect that it was specially made so that only one person could effectively master it. I have a feeling that it could destroy anyone who tried to use it against its will."

Kagome looked at the sword with new respect. "I had no idea. Do you think that the person that it was made for was Midoriko?"

"In a way, otherwise she couldn't have used it, but the sword is much too old to have been made for her originally. It is over ten thousand years old." (**A/N:** I don't know if swords were even around that long ago but it sounds impressive.)

Kagome and the rest of the group gasped, even Inuyasha who had just woken up. "How can my soul be that old? I know that Yama (**A/N:** will be explained later) said that I have a very old soul, but ten _thousand_ years?"

"I suspect that your soul is even older. That is just when the sword was made. It has nothing to do with how old your soul actually is other than telling us that it is over ten thousand years old. It is extraordinary that you have been allowed to be reincarnated so many times. Usually someone's fate would have already been decided: Heaven or Hell (**A/N:** don't really know what they call it in whatever religion that preaches reincarnation)."

_She is a guardian soul of this world. One of the few that are left. She is to protect it against evil and those that seek to destroy it. It is why I am called Guardian, for my master is the guardian. She is the guardian of the Shikon Jewel as well a protector by nature. Guardian souls really have no set duties. All they really do is protect those that need protecting and fight against evil. They are pure souls that are almost impossible to corrupt. They hold the potential for great power and I was created when the guardians started to disappear. I was given to the oldest soul to help her fight against whatever was making the guardians disappear. We found out that it was youkai. They kept eating their souls because the guardians' souls were considered a delicacy, but originally it was just because they were afraid of their power and their place in the world. Finally the youkai thought that they had eaten all of the guardians so the legend of the guardians died. That is probably why you have never heard of them. Do you understand?_

Kagome nodded, but the others continued to stare at the sword. _I guess that it is a little disconcerting to hear a sword talk in your head. _

_Indeed._

_I thought that you were asleep._

_You really expect me to sleep after the battle and the excitement after the battle? Especially this new twist? _

_I guess not. Guardian is a trifle long winded when he finally gets around to talking isn't he? I hope that Midoriko isn't like him._

Kikyo nodded sagely in their mind.

Miroku finally came out of his daze. "So, how many guardians are left?"

_There is no way of knowing for certain, but I suspect that she is the only one. I can sense other guardians and I have not been able to sense any in over a thousand years. Unless they have been frozen, there are no more. _

"Frozen?"

_Frozen in time. Their powers and their life and soul energy are frozen, along with their bodies._

"This is just great. Now I have to learn about guardians and how to hide my soul and life energy in addition to learning about miko duties, training in both fighting and in powers, _and_ help plan a wedding. This is crazy. How am I going to find the time to do this? Wait a second! I already know how to hide my energy." Kagome concentrated. She hadn't thought of using her barrier this way but there was no reason that it couldn't work. The standing barrier that she used to hide the shards in her time should be able conform her barrier to exist just outside her skin in order to hide all forms of energy. The only thing that she would need to change would be to make it so that it wouldn't actually hide her body. All signs of life from where Kagome was standing disappeared, including her smell. Luckily the barrier was self sustaining so she wouldn't have to constantly concentrate to keep the barrier up.

"I can't even smell you. How am I supposed to protect you if I can't even tell where you are?" Inuyasha muttered sourly. Kagome's smell had always comforted him and allowed him to tell where she was at all times. Stupid sword.

"Kagome how did you do that! Barriers aren't supposed to be able to conform to a specific shape." Miroku said incredulously.

Kagome smiled sheepishly. "Well, I didn't think of that. I just came up with an idea and tried it. Anyway this isn't an actual force field. It is just an energy field, I guess you could call it. You can still touch me and it will not repel you, but it doesn't allow anyone to sense my energy."

"Or smell." Inuyasha said, still bitter.

"Oh, does it? I didn't know that. This is great!"

_This will do for now, but there _are_ youkai in your time. And you should keep in mind that people and youkai will think it strange if they can see you and not sense you. They will wonder what you are hiding and that may cause you more trouble than it would if you just walked around like normal. You are actually very industrious. I think that I will enjoy serving you, my lady. However, you will need to learn how to hide your energy from me, and thus others that could possibly sense what you are. It isn't very difficult, but not many know the secret. We will talk on the way back to the Lord of the West's palace._

"So why are my senses becoming such a bother? They are so enhanced that they are giving me headaches."

_It is but a side effect of the youkai souls. I will bind them until you can handle them. It shouldn't be too difficult to do._ There was a pulse from Guardian and immediately Kagome felt a whole lot better.

"Thanks. The first thing that I'm going to do when we get back to the palace is give Shippo a bath though. I don't know how you stand it Inuyasha."

Miroku was back to his usual calm self again. "We should go back to the village and get packed. Kagome has a lot of work to do before she goes back to her time." He handed Guardian back to Kagome.

* * *

---In the forest, right after Hiei left the group---

Hiei finally judged that they were not following him any longer. He jumped to the ground and gingerly laid the sack on the ground. He opened the sack and took out its occupant: a three tailed fire cat youkai in its smallest form. The cat was like Kirara, except for its extra tail and coloring. It was black with dark purple markings and dark blue eyes that were identical to Kagome's, not that you could tell much from how badly it was beaten. Dried blood, dirt, and various other substances caked its fur, making Hiei want to start crying again, which he wouldn't do because he was a strong youkai.

Hiei knew that his mother's people could heal, but he didn't know how so the best he could do was get to a spring and clean the wounds. He wished that he would have gotten that miko to heal the cat before he left. He didn't have time to take care of a cat, and he didn't want a travel companion. He was just fine on his own. But for some reason he couldn't bring himself to leave the cat on its own.

Suddenly he got the picture of the little form of the fire cat that traveled with that miko. The miko might take the cat and heal it! These fire cat youkai were supposed to be rare and very valuable, that was why the bandits wanted it in the first place. The thing that he couldn't figure out was why they had been able to capture it in the first place. They were supposed to be able to defend themselves from capture and transform into their larger form, like that cat that traveled with the miko.

After he cleaned the wounds, he made some sloppy bandages and wrapped up the wounds. He then took off in the direction that he had left them. It was almost morning, so they should still be asleep. He caught their scent. They were traveling toward the old youkai exterminator village. By the time he got there, it was morning and they were gone again, but, by the looks of the hut that they had stayed the night in, they would be back. All their belongings were here. He saw some paper sticking out of the miko's strange bag. He took it out and looked for something to write with, seeing nothing. He shrugged. It wouldn't be the first time that he had written in his own blood. After all, that was the way that he had learned to write in the first place. The leader of the bandits had saw that he had somehow figured out how to read some of the books that they stole and had decided to use him to write things like ransom notes and stuff like that. Of course, it was no fun if it didn't involve pain of some sort, so the bandit had made Hiei write the messages in his own blood. It was more effective that way anyway, especially if it was a person that they were ransoming. He used his claws as a quill.

_Miko:_

_This cat is injured. Heal it and keep it if you want. I have no use for it. Here is payment for helping me and for healing the cat. It is one of my tearstones. They are very valuable so you should be able to sell it for a great amount._

He nodded. That should do it. He placed the tearstone and chain that he had taken from the bandit's camp on top of the note beside the cat.

Before he left, he had a stray thought_. I hope that she keeps both the cat and the necklace.

* * *

_

I don't really know if Hiei has claws, but having them was convenient so I put them in. Hiei is really out of character in this fic, don't ya think? Maybe it's just me, I don't know. I hope that he is not too much so, but if he is, I'm outta luck because this was essential to my story, so I'm not changing it. Just remember that he is just a child at this point.


	15. Chapter 14

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and a few characters that I will make up later, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

---With Kagome and the group---

_Well, this is going to be fun._

_What?_

_Trying to get you to knuckle down and learn all that you need to before we have to leave. All things considered, I think that we should let Sesshomaru have you during the day and the sword and I will come at you in your dreams. Don't worry; mikos can go for days without sleep. Anyway, your body will be getting sleep. Your mind is all that we really need. You should be able to go through a month or two of lessons before you get tired. _

_That is _such_ a comfort._

_Well, during the time that we will be staying here, I suspect that you will want to go back occasionally to see your family. You can use that time to rest with only mine and the sword's lessons to worry about. Although I suspect that Sesshomaru will make you at least exercise a little while you are away._

_I don't know when I will find the time to study. Even though I have taken a leave of absence from school, I still need to study so that I don't get too behind._

_You were not destined for a regular job that would make school necessary. You have no need of it._

_Tell that to my mom! And school is important to me. I would like to go to a university some day. I like learning…well, except for the math. The history is so interesting and science and botany are fun. You would think that history would be boring seeing as how I'm living it, but it's fun to learn if only to find out what they are getting wrong about this time. And just because I'm living through this point in history doesn't mean that I can't learn about others and in different parts of the world. I think that is what I would like to major in if I can ever get into a university._

Kikyo was surprised that Kagome was this passionate about school. From her thoughts about it she would have guessed that she hated it.

Kagome seemed to get what Kikyo was thinking, not difficult seeing as how they shared the same mind. _For the most part, I _do_ hate school. Some of the teachers are more evil than Naraku, I swear. Some of the kids, too. But I don't discount the purpose that school serves. Some of the things that they teach us are useful. I don't think that you can make a living as a miko anymore, so I will have to have a job. Even though I will probably end up taking over the shrine if Sota still refuses to do so, it won't bring in enough money to support Shippo and I, much less the rest of my family. I _need_ a job._

_Hmph. I guess history could be _slightly_ useful._

_Thanks, Kikyo. SO! First thing in the morning, training with Sesshomaru. Whenever he lets me off, I study. When I sleep, training with you and Guardian. Once every two months, I get a week with my family. Does this sound acceptable to you?_

_Yes, but it is not _me_ you have to worry about rejecting it, it's Sesshomaru. _

_We will cross that bridge when it gets here._ Kagome ended her conversation with Kikyo. They were at the hut where they had stayed the night before.

"Wait." Inuyasha said just before they entered the hut. He sniffed the air. "That little runt you saved has been here. It seems that he has left you something. I smell dried blood."

Kagome rushed into the hut. Almost immediately she saw the injured little cat youkai. She rushed over to it, almost stopping when she counted its tails. The poor little thing was almost dead. Immediately she put her hands to the wounds and healed the cat. It went from a pain induced coma to a peaceful, healing sleep. Once that was done, she noticed the necklace and the note under it. Sango picked it up and read it aloud to everyone. Kagome picked up the necklace. "I wish that he would have stayed." She stared at the necklace, then put it around her neck and tucked it into her shirt.

She looked at the cat and saw that it was male. "I think that I will call you Niiku. (**A/N:** I have no idea what that means, if it means anything at all. It sounded Japanese when I thought of it and I kinda like it so I used it.) Sango, do you have any idea as to why he has three tails?"

Sango nodded. "I have heard that they are an indicator of both age and power. From his condition, I would say that he just finished growing the tail. When they grow their tails, they are vulnerable and unable to change into their large form for a time. It was probably the only reason that those weak bandits were able to capture him. I wonder if his coloring is significant. Both Kirara and the other fire cat that we met had similar coloring but this one..."

"Do fire cats have different breeds or is it a breed itself?"

"I have no idea. Kirara has been the only fire cat that I have had much contact with. I'm sure that there is a book in Sesshomaru's library."

Kagome nodded and they got ready to leave. Kagome made a bed for Niiku in her backpack and gently laid him in. Once everyone got packed, Shippo jumped up on Kagome's shoulder. "I'm going to ride on Kirara. Is that okay, Mama?"

"That's fine, Shippo. Everyone?" They turned to look at her. "Don't be surprised if I don't speak for a while. I'm going to take the opportunity to practice manipulating my energy with Guardian."

They took off. The group soon became accustomed to the fluctuations of energy from Kagome. By the time they made camp, Kagome felt that she had made great progress. She had learned to completely hide her miko energy and Guardian had shown her a new barrier to hide the Shikon Jewel. The new barrier hid the jewel's energy and disguised the jewel as one of the fake ones that her grandfather sold at the temple. Of course, this barrier would only be useful until the jewel became part of her soul again. Learning it wouldn't be completely useless though. Learning it made it easier to understand hiding and disguising her energy and soul. When she finished her lessons, she should be able to appear a normal human, nothing special. She explained everything that she had learned to her friends around the fire. After that they talked about the wedding. Miroku wanted to have it as quickly as possible, but Sango, the one that really counted, wanted to have a big wedding. She wanted a memorable wedding. Plus, Sesshomaru had already said that he was going to take over the organizing. Sango only had to tell his servants what she wanted and he would arrange it. There would still be plenty for Sango to do, but Sesshomaru didn't do anything half way. If he was arranging it, then it would be done on a grand scale. Kaede, of course, would be marrying them and Mushin, the closest thing to a father that Miroku had, would bless their union. Kagome would be her maid of honor and Inuyasha would be the best man. Kirara would carry Sango's train and Shippo was going to throw the flowers. (**A/N:** I don't know how marriage ceremonies were conducted then. I know just the basics of marriage ceremonies now so this is going to follow that.)

Niiku was still sleeping when they went to sleep for the night. Kagome took him out of her backpack and made him a bed close to her. She asked Kirara to sleep near him so that he could be comforted by his own kind if he woke up scared during the night.

Which was exactly what happened.

Kagome woke to a low growl somewhere in the vicinity of her head answered by another low growl from Kirara. She ever so slowly rose to a sitting position and stared the now transformed, three-tailed fire cat youkai in the eyes. As soon as their eyes met there was a flash of recognition in the cat's eyes. It immediately retransformed into his smaller form and jumped into his new mistress's arms. It had taken him centuries to find her and when he did he almost attacked her! It was not how he had pictured finding his destined master to be. He had just thought that they were the one's that had hurt him while he was weak from growing his third tail. He told Kagome all of this by telepathy.

Kagome didn't even bat an eye when her new cat had started talking to her in her mind. After all, once you have heard a sword talk, you are not surprised by much of anything anymore.

Kagome looked at the rest of the group, who had woken when the growling began. "Sango, does Kirara talk to you by telepathy?"

Sango looked startled. "No. Is Niiku speaking to you?"

Kirara meowed to Niiku. _Kirara says that she has about four to five hundred years before she will grow another tail. I'm seven hundred, forty years old. With a third tail, comes the ability to communicate with our destined masters. I have tried to find you for a long time. I thought that I had found you three hundred years ago, but when I went to where I sensed you, all I saw was pile of statues. I love my name, by the way_.

Kagome relayed this information to the rest of the group as she stroked Niiku's soft fur. "Do you think that I can keep him in my time? It would be hard to explain the three tails and the purple markings."

_You idiot, how do you think that we will hide Shippo's youkai characteristics? There is a spell for these kind of things. Anyway, with all the things that you will be learning, do you think that it will be difficult to change someone's appearance?_ Kikyo, ever the charmer.

"Never mind. Okay everyone, let's get some sleep. I have the feeling tomorrow's going to be a long day."

Niiku couldn't bring himself to let Kagome out of touching distance after trying to find her for over seven hundred years. Since Shippo had already claimed a spot in her sleeping bag, he transformed into his larger form and allowed them to use him as a pillow. He fell asleep purring; for the first time in his life he was content.

Sango looked at the threesome from across the fire, absently stroking Kirara as she reminisced about when she had first met Kirara. It was almost just like that, except Kirara hadn't been waiting so long and couldn't use telepathy to communicate. Now that was something to look forward to, although they could communicate fine now. Maybe Kirara could find her reincarnated form and, then, they could talk.

* * *

There is _way_ too much telepathy in this story. Just think how confusing it will get when Kurama and the adult Hiei come into the picture! I hope no one is confused. If so I apologize. I'm just writing this story for fun. It is fun to write, but I get the feeling that it's a little boring for everyone else. It won't hurt my feelings for you to say that. I know it already so there is no reason for me to be hurt if you tell me so. I hope that it will get better in later chapters but I don't count too much on it.

Also, you know what? I've changed my mind. Originally I was going to have them put off the wedding for a long time, maybe close to a year, but then I got an idea as to how to further complicate the story and manipulate Kagome into staying in the past longer. I also figured out how to solve my case of writer's block that I tell you about in the next chapter. I'm moving up the wedding! Well I guess I just told you, but I'll elaborate in the next chapter.

Author's Note: **So, Purefire16 (MM), is this acceptable to you? Kagome gets her own cute kitty to take to the future with her and Shippo gets to come along, too!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and a few characters that I will make up later, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

**Author's Note:** You know, I think that I may be experiencing my first case of writer's block. Well, I don't think that it's actually that; I'm just at a loss as to what to write next. I know that I could write about what happens in later chapters, but I can't figure out what to write to get there. It's _very_ frustrating because I really want to write about certain things, but this story does change slightly as I write it, so I can't really write the scenes that I really want to yet. I hate it when this happens. It's like a road map. I know where I am and where I'm going, but I haven't a clue as to how to get there. I never was any good at reading those things, not that I have any interest in learning to anyway. (Never mind. I solved the problem by moving up events that I wanted to write about and just skimming over the time in between this chapter and the last, just as you read in the author's note at the end of the last chapter. Yay for me!)

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

---Four Months Later---

Miroku's and Sango's wedding was beautiful. Miroku looked nervous as hell, but happy until there was a delay in Sango coming down the aisle. Then he started to look scared. _What if she came to her senses and decided not to marry me?_ Even though he asked every woman he met to bare his child, after he met Sango, the only reason he even paid attention to other women was to make her jealous. He loved to make her mad. She was so beautiful with her eyes sparkling and her cheeks flushed with anger or embarrassment. Her breasts would heave and it was all he could do to restrain himself to just stroking her butt. He loved her so much and was looking forward to being married to her. _IF she would ever come down the damn aisle!

* * *

_

---With Sango---

"Oh Kagome, what if we get married and he realizes that he didn't love me after all?! What if he sees some other pretty girl and decides that he would rather have _her _bare his children? I love him so much, I don't think that I could stand it if he decided that he doesn't love me anymore!" cried a hysterical Sango, beautiful in her simple white wedding gown. "What if I'm no good at sex? What if I hate it? Oh Kagome, what am I going to do?" Sango flung herself face down on the bed and started sobbing.

Kagome smiled and went to calm her friend. "Sango, Miroku loves you. That just doesn't go away like that." Kagome snaps her fingers. "Have you noticed that ever since you agreed to marry him, he hasn't even _looked_ at another girl, much less tried to fell one up? I've been watching and I know that he hasn't. Miroku may always be a pervert, but he is a good, loyal man. He would never intentionally hurt you like that. As for being bad at sex, don't they say that 'practice makes perfect'? It is also good for making babies, which I know that both you and Miroku desperately want. Also, I know for a fact that Miroku is just as much a virgin as you are."

Sango looked at Kagome in astonishment. "How do you know that?"

Kagome laughed. "Miroku had too much sake one night. Remember when we met up with that daimyo—the one who was so intent on marrying you—again? Anyway, he started making drunken confessions. Everyone else was asleep, but I couldn't seem to so I just sat there watching him drink and soaking up all the juicy blackmail material that he was so willing to spill. Did you know that when he was little, his mother dressed him in pink dresses because she wanted a girl? She didn't want a boy that would go running off and leave her in order to fight Naraku. He wore pink dresses up until he was about three. Everyone thought that he was a girl until he started protesting so much and taking off all his clothes in front of everyone and running around naked. His mom finally gave in and realized that Miroku wasn't going to turn into a girl just by dressing him like one. He is still bitter about that…" Kagome couldn't go on. Both girls were laughing so hard that Sango's tears of fear turned into tears of laughter.

They finally stopped laughing when they heard a knock at the door. Kagome went to the door and opened it a crack. There stood Sesshomaru in all his glory looking slightly annoyed, which generally meant that he would like to kill what was causing him displeasure, but knew that if he did that he would have to bring whatever it was he killed back to life with Tenseiga. Kagome had been on the receiving end of that look a lot lately, so she was intimately acquainted with it.

Sesshomaru had gotten tired of waiting, so he took it upon himself to fetch the bride. "What is taking so long? You had better get out here before the monk starts hyperventilating." With that he turned to leave.

Both Kagome and Sango looked at the big clock leaning up against the wall and screamed, "Oh my GOD! We are so late!" They hurriedly dried their tears and tried to restore some sort of order to their appearances.

When they were ready, Kagome headed for the aisle. She did the traditional maid of honor thing—with the exception of holding Kirara because Sango had wanted her to be in the wedding but she didn't have a train so Kirara couldn't hold that as she had intended—and waited for Sango to walk down the aisle to her future husband.

Sango appeared and everyone drew in a breath. Her cheeks were full of color and her eyes were still sparkling from her earlier tears, but now they were full of love and happiness. When she saw Miroku looking so relieved to see her, she felt all her fears melt away. She was doing the right thing. Miroku was her future and her soul mate. She wouldn't _let_ anything tear them apart!

Miroku finally started to breathe again when he saw a flash of white from the end of the aisle. He turned to look at his bride and found that he had somehow lost the ability to breathe again. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. He could not believe that in a few minutes she would be his for the rest of their lives. His heart felt like it would burst from his chest as she joined him in front of Kaede and Mushin and took both of his hands in hers, paying special attention to the one that used to hold his wind tunnel.

They said their vows with such feeling that everyone in hearing distance was touched, even the great Lord Sesshomaru. Many sniffles could be heard throughout the room, and someone was openly bawling from outside the door. It seemed that Sesshomaru's servants found the couple's happiness moving too.

When it came time to kiss the bride, Miroku pulled Sango into his arms and gave her a long, very deep, and impossibly tender kiss. As the kiss was drawing to an end, Sango's eyes suddenly shot open. She pushed Miroku away and yelled "Pervert!" and slapped him so hard across the face that he fell to the floor with stars in his eyes.

Sango was breathing really heavily and then she realized what she had done and was horribly embarrassed. All their friends were trying not to laugh and failing miserably, except for Sesshomaru, who was just smirking. Sango helped Miroku up and apologized. "I'm sorry Miroku, its just habit. Anyway, you shouldn't grope me in public." Sango thought about it a minute and got angry all over again. "I take it back. I'm not sorry and if you do it again I will slap you into oblivion!" With that, Sango picked up her skirts and strode down the aisle, Miroku chasing her and begging her to forgive him his cursed hands and not be angry on their wedding day of all days. As they left, everyone in the room lost control of their laughter and started to laugh hysterically.

"Meow."

_I second that. He_ should _know better by now_. Niiku said in mildly, now used to the couple's antics.

Kagome looked down at Kirara and Niiku and then at after the retreating couple and shook her head. "Some things will never change." Her smile was bittersweet as she followed them out of the room and into the dining room where the reception would take place. _And I hope they never will.

* * *

_

The party was winding down. The bride and groom had already left. Sesshomaru had provided them with an entire wing of the palace to themselves.

Kagome looked across the huge dining room. The table had been pushed against the wall and was layered with food, buffet-style. She had had to fight Sesshomaru to keep him from going the route of a long formal dinner. Kagome had found out earlier that the dining room also doubled as the ballroom. It was certainly big enough to. She looked up at the ceiling for about the hundredth time. Somehow someone had painted an exact replica of the night sky and all the constellations were perfect. The stars and full moon seemed to glow, even in the bright light. She was going to miss how beautiful the stars were in this time. In her time, the stars never seemed as beautiful.

"Miko, you will be leaving for your time soon?" Sesshomaru had come up behind her as she was staring at the ceiling.

"Sess, I thought we were past the 'Miko'. You know my name is Kagome. Now that you and Inuyasha have come to a truce and you are helping to train me before I leave, I thought you could bring yourself to address me by my name. At least you got over that whole talking-about-yourself-in-the-third-person thing. That really got on my nerves. Thank goodness Rin followed your lead in that."

Sesshomaru shot her a look that said that he knew she was nuttier than a loon and said, "Okay…Kagome…answer my question."

Kagome thought for a moment. "I had to promise Sango that I would stay until their first child was born so that I could be there for her. She wouldn't agree to have the wedding this soon unless I agreed. Miroku begged me too, saying that life was too short and 'Who knows, I may be attacked by youkai and die anytime.' And to be honest, I really want to see their child born. I have the feeling that it is important that I be there. I know that I was selfish for delaying in making my wishes for this long, but I really want to put off saying goodbye as long as I can."

"Why is that selfish? You will be giving your friends time to accept the fact that they will probably never see you again. And although it pains me to say this to a human, I consider you my friend and will miss you also." Sesshomaru gave her a rare smile that looked like it was giving him great pain, but it was still a smile. Kagome would have never thought that she would live to see the Great Lord Sesshomaru smile at any human other than Rin (unless he was in the process of killing them), but, no matter how much it galled him to do it, he had admitted that he cared about her and had even smiled at her!

Kagome was so caught up in boggling over the smile and him saying that she, a HUMAN, was considered a friend that she totally forgot what they were talking about until Sesshomaru reminded her. "You will see when I make my wishes why delaying them was selfish. And I will miss you too Sesshomaru. You are like the annoying, slave-driving older brother that I'm glad I never had." Kagome couldn't resist teasing him about all the training that he had put her through. It had been worth it though. After finding out that she could channel her miko energy into other weapons besides arrows and Guardian, even into her fists and feet, the training with Sesshomaru had increased even more than when they started. It didn't make her pass out like it did before she had gotten Kikyo's portion of her soul back. Even Kikyo was surprised at the depth of their power and at the speed that they seemed to be improving. The only explanation was that her soul was remembering things that it had already learned in past lives and was transmitting the knowledge to her body. With as many lifetimes as she has had it was really not surprising how she was improving when she really thought about it. She had some of the most powerful youkai of that time inside of her now also; it was only natural that she notice _some_ differences. Not to mention that she was also remembering youkai fighting moves and trying to deal with the enhanced youkai senses. She was having the most trouble with that. She couldn't seem to be able to deal with such strong senses and learn how to mute them so that she could function normally. But she was coming along.

They had started out with hand-to-hand combat before Sesshomaru would even let her draw a sword in training, which was how she learned to transmit her energy into her fists, quite by accident seeing as how Kikyo hadn't gotten past the herbs and spells yet, even with not getting more than one true good night's sleep a month. Sesshomaru was about to kill her for the first time when it happened. He got a really big burn where his left arm would have been. He quickly brought her back with the Tenseiga (the first of many times as Sesshomaru refuses to hold back and also because he wants her to up her pain tolerance). Kagome had been horrified by what had happened and had quickly healed him. A side effect of the healing was the regrowth of Sesshomaru's left arm. After that, they decided that while practicing together would benefit both of them (Kagome by improving both her attacks and her healing abilities and Sesshomaru by increasing his already extremely high tolerance of purification), they would go on numerous youkai slaying expeditions to hone her attacks to a greater level, as she was kind of afraid to use all of her powers against Sesshomaru out of fear that she would accidentally kill him. Plus, she wasn't all that sure that anyone other than Sesshomaru could use Tenseiga, so it was iffy if anyone could bring him back. Once she was proficient in hand-to-hand combat, they had moved onto other weapons. She learned how to defend and attack using a variety of other weapons before she was even allowed to use her sword. Sesshomaru had never explained why but it was speculated by some of Sesshomaru's generals (all of whom Kagome had met and who loved to give her pointers) that he wanted her to improve her agility and strength with the heavier weapons before going onto the sword training so that she could give him a half-way decent workout when they got to them. Kagome knew that they were wrong though. She just knew that he was doing it to torture her because he knew how much she wanted to learn how to use Guardian again and see how it felt in combat when she knew what she was doing, even if it was only training. She knew this because, when he finally began instructing her, she was further tortured by only being allowed to use a wooden sword, filled with lead to increase the weight, for a whole month before he allowed her to draw Guardian. It felt just as she anticipated. That is when the training really began. If she had thought that Sesshomaru was tough with just one arm, she thought that he was pretty much invincible with both of his arms. They practiced all day, only stopping for a short lunch, everyday from five in the morning until seven at night. She hadn't been able to beat him yet, but had just gotten to the point where it was a draw at the end of the day. She would always love her bow because it was her first weapon and few could match her in archery, but she loved the way her sword felt in her hand. It was more convenient for defensive and close fighting, too. Sesshomaru actually started to open up to her after a while and, though he was puzzled by it, he couldn't seem to stop it, so he just finally accepted it. They were as close as brother and sister, closer than him and Inuyasha would ever be, because Inuyasha was Inuyasha and thus very annoying to the mostly quiet and dignified youkai lord. Rin had taken to following Kagome around everywhere she went when she wasn't training (which admittedly wasn't very often) and mimicking her every gesture. Kagome loved the little munchkin that looked so much like her. Rin had even started calling her "Mama" like Shippo. Kagome worried about the little one. When she left, Rin would be losing her mother figure and her playmate, Shippo, but she didn't see any way around it.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a knock on the head. "Owwwwwwwwwwwwe…WHAT WAS THAT FOR YOU IDIOT!"

"You would not answer when I called your name numerous times. It seemed an appropriate way to get your attention."

"Sesshomaru, sometimes I just want to 'sit' you like I do Inuyasha!" Kagome mumbled angrily and started pouting. _Maybe I should fix him a rosary. No, I doubt that it would work._

Sesshomaru looked at her, amused. She looked just like Rin when she did not get her way. That brought to mind the matters that he wanted to discuss with her…but no. He would wait until a more appropriate time, such as when she was so tired from her training that she would not be able to argue and maybe refuse. "Go change and meet me in the training yard in fifteen minutes. You got the day off from training for the wedding and I don't want you to get soft."

"But what about Inuyasha?" He always joined to watch their training sessions because, although he would never admit it, he knows that he could learn a lot from his older brother. "I want you to promise me that you will train him when I'm gone. He knows that he could learn a lot from you, and I think that you need someone to beat up on a daily basis."

Sesshomaru looked aggravated with her for a moment and then sighed. "I promise." Although, like Inuyasha, he would never admit it, he also cared about his annoying little half brother. He was the only blood family that he had left and that counted for a lot. "Inuyasha is in the corner moaning because he ate too much food. Disgraceful. There is no way that he could move right now, much less make it to the training yard to watch us. Now, go change." With that he left and Kagome smiled after him and went to do as he ordered. She may be argumentative at times but she isn't stupid. If she took one minute longer than he had given her, he would drag her out to train in whatever she had on at the time. She learned that the hard way when she went to bed and got dragged to the training yard in her nightgown. Now, THAT had been a miserable four hours…

* * *

After eight hours of hard training, Kagome was gasping for breath and Sesshomaru was slightly winded. The sun would be up in about an hour or two. Niiku had taken up residence next to the castle wall and had watched their fight with interest, occasionally twitching his tails in annoyance and growling when his mistress made a mistake and Sesshomaru got in a good hit. Kagome collapsed beside him and Sesshomaru sat beside her, lost in his thoughts, while Kagome was just concentrating on breathing.

"I want you to take Rin with you to your era." Sesshomaru suddenly said, stunning Kagome.

When she could speak again she said, "First of all, I don't know if I even can. Second, and most important of all…ARE YOU CRAZY! You love that little girl and she loves you! She keeps you from becoming a heartless tyrant, Sesshomaru. What would happen if you didn't have her?"

Sesshomaru was quiet for a moment. "I'm asking this of you because it is in her best interest. With me, she would grow old and die surrounded by youkai. She wouldn't have any chance at finding a mate or having pups. It would be lonely for her and she may grow to resent not having human contact."

"Miroku and Sango are planning to live close by. They could teach her about humans and take her to other villages to meet boys her age."

"What boy do you think will stand up to me and ask for her hand? Few, if any, would have the courage to do so and I doubt that I would find anyone I approve of anyway. But that is not my only reason. This world is dangerous and I have many enemies. Like Naraku they would use her to get to me. You are the only one that I trust to take care of her in my stead."

Kagome was touched, speechless, and slightly annoyed. How could she deny the man who had taught her so much and was like a brother to her? He trusted her with what he treasured the most; how could she deny him when he put it like that? He had made it impossible for her to refuse, not that she didn't want the little girl. It was just that she didn't want to separate the two of them. "Okay, I will take her with me IF Midoriko says that is alright. But I have some favors that I would like for you to do as well after I leave that I will tell you about before I make my wishes."

Sesshomaru nodded and went into the castle. It was a testament to how much he trusted her that he didn't order her to tell him what she meant right then.

Kagome sat under the stars and thought about how she was going to manage school, guarding the jewel, and raising two rambunctious children, all at the same time. Not to mention dealing with the congregation in her head. She was sure that Midoriko was going to be just as demanding as Kikyo and Sesshomaru both in regards to training and expanding her miko and physical abilities. She sighed, _Well, the only thing to do is suck it up and deal. Mom will help with the kids, there aren't many youkai in my time that would come after the jewel not that they could get it since it will be inside my body, and as for school…_She shrugged. _Maybe I got kicked out for too many absences. I could learn better on my own anyway.

* * *

_

---After a few hours of sleep---

Kagome was getting ready to leave for her week at home. As Sango and Miroku probably weren't going to emerge from their suite anytime soon, she didn't feel the need to stick around. It was time for her scheduled trip home anyways. Last time Sesshomaru had grumbled, but gave in grudgingly when she pointed out that he could use the time to catch up on his paperwork, although he seemed to be angrier after she pointed that out. She had a sneaking suspicion that he used training her as an excuse not to do paperwork in the first place and was mad at her for pointing out that he was getting behind.

She thought back to the last time she had been home and her mother's comment about finding her a tutor to help keep her from getting too behind in her studies. She groaned. That was all she needed. Some snot nosed nerd trying to look down her shirt while trying to teach her what to do with that Quadratic math thing (**A/N: **I have been out of math for a few years and out of basic math for a lot longer so I can't remember much. I just pulled the first thing that I could think of out of my mind). Not that she had anything against nerds in general. She actually admired their dedication to their education. She just disliked with a passion the ones that tried to look up her skirt or down her blouse, and then made some creepy comment about showing her his bug collection sometime in his room; supposedly they thought that that would be an incentive to accept. Sure she had planned to use her time at home to study, but a _tutor?!_ What would they think of a student that could only be tutored for a week every two months? Nerds were smart. They would not believe it when Grandpa made up his horrible illnesses to excuse her. Who gets sick for weeks and then has a miraculous recovery for exactly a week, with no signs of ever being ill at all? It was risky.

_We could always make them think that it wasn't unusual with a spell. It's kind of like a barrier to make people steer clear of something by remembering something that they forgot to do. Every time that he or she starts to think about how strange it is, his mind will drift to something else and lose his train of thought._

Kagome thought that over for a moment as she packed. _I really don't like the idea of messing with anyone's mind, but if it comes to that we have no choice_. She shrugged her backpack on her shoulders and headed to Sesshomaru's study to tell him that she was leaving before going to find Inuyasha. He would escort her to the well, mostly because he didn't have anything to do, but also to protect her. He couldn't get into his head that she could take care of herself, probably better than he could. But she really didn't mind. It was nice to have these moments by themselves, like when they were first starting out with their search for the jewel shards. They didn't have too many of them now what with her training. But it was comforting to have him just watch her and Sesshomaru training. Just his presence made her feel secure. She wanted to stay here but it wasn't meant to be. Plus, she couldn't just leave her family and friends, as annoying as some of them were sometimes. They could never be as close to her as her friends in this time were, although Yusuke and Keiko came close (**A/N:** Ha Ha. Just in case you missed it, Yusuke was the one that she was talking on the phone with about Keiko.) It was pretty tough to beat the closeness developed when people spend every moment of just about every day with each other, sharing numerous near-death experiences.

Inuyasha came to a grinding halt. "We're here."

Kagome looked around. "Already? Inuyasha, you must have gotten faster since the last time."

Inuyasha puffed up his chest proudly. "You haven't been the only one training. I have been helping petrol the Western Land's borders."

Kagome smiled indulgently. "I'm proud of you. You should hurry up and get back. The sun is going to set in a couple of hours. You don't want to be stuck out alone in your human form."

Inuyasha folded his arms against his chest. "Feh. I did it before you and the rest of the guys were in the picture, I can do it again."

"Nonetheless, just hurry. For my piece of mind?"

"Feh." His version of an agreement. "Bye Kagome. One week. Don't be late or Mr. I-Am-Lord-And-You-Should-Never-Keep-Me-Waiting-Or-I-Will-Kill-You will be most displeased and take it out on me. Not that I wouldn't relish the chance to kick his ass, but I wouldn't want to damage him and keep him from kicking yours." With that Inuyasha took off in the direction of the Western Lands in order to escape the 'sit' that he knew was coming.

Kagome watched him escape her wrath with amusement. _You're all heart, Inuyasha._ Kagome turned back to the well and jumped in to be greeted by the familiar flash of blue light.

* * *

Finally, we're getting to the actual story! Guess who's coming up in the next chapter. I'm not going to tell you, but, if you think long and hard or short and soft, I'm sure that you can figure it out! 


	17. Chapter 16

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and a few characters that I will make up later, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

**Warning: **Sexual content. No actual lemons or whatever but sexual situations. Also, if you are offended by this you shouldn't read any further. There will probably be lots more, including some sex scenes. You shouldn't get mad because this _is _rated M. If you can't tolerate this kind of stuff then go to the K rated stuff.

**WARNING:** Also, I think that if you haven't seen the entire series of Yu Yu Hakusho then you will be lost in this fic. I don't explain the things that happened in the Three Kings Saga or whatever it is called. I see no reason to waste my time summarizing it. If you want to know what happens, but don't want to watch the anime, then try looking it up on **Wikipedia. **I think that it explains everything that you would want to know about the show in there.

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

---On the other side of the well---

Kurama made his way up the steps to the Higurashi shrine. _This one has even more steps than Genkai's._ Luckily, he wasn't your average human. He had a spirit fox's soul sharing his body. He would have collapsed after the first three hundred if he didn't spend his days fighting the other youkai that manage to make it through the barrier between human and demon world. He sighed. He would be leaving for Makai in a little less than one month to see his old partner Yomi. He would be staying for the month of August only while his mother was on her honeymoon. It was partly out of guilt that he had allowed her to talk him into agreeing to tutor her friend's daughter for a week out of every two months. It seemed that the girl was frequently sick and needed help catching up. She even moved to a retreat and would only be back during the time of her lessons to spend time with her family. Her mother was worried that since she wasn't able to go to school she wouldn't be able to keep up just by studying on her own. She had been telling his mother about it when Shiori had offered him up as a tutor. Since it was summer and most of his friends were already in Makai, he agreed. Not to mention the guilt that he felt at deceiving his mother. He would tutor one of his fan girls with the bubonic plague if it would make her happy.

* * *

Kagome jumped out of the well and rushed over to the main house. She burst in and engulfed her mother in a huge hug.

Mrs. Higurashi laughed. "Kagome, let me go. You're breaking my back! I guess all that training really is paying off."

"Sorry, Mom." Kagome let go and looked around. "Where is everyone? I would have thought that they would be here to welcome me home."Mrs. Higurashi gathered the ingredients to make oden innocently. "They knew that you would be busy for a couple of hours with your tutor so they went to go visit some old friends of your grandfather's." _Actually, I shoved them out the door so they wouldn't distract you and Shuichi. I _do_ want grandchildren someday…Well, _baby_ grandchildren._ Mrs. Higurashi thought, remembering the little fox kit that Kagome planned to officially adopt before she left the past.

"Oh. Are you making oden?" Kagome examined the ingredients on the counter excitedly before her mother's words sunk in. "TUTOR! I thought we would discuss this in more depth this trip. How are we going to explain why these lessons are only once for exactly a week every two months like clockwork? No one with half a brain will believe that my immune system is on that tight a schedule!" Kagome was beside herself thinking of some goody two shoes telling the school that she was faking being sick. Then they really would kick her out! She may have joked about it to herself, but she didn't actually want it to happen.

Mrs. Higurashi sighed, hoping that she could calm her daughter down before Shuichi got here. "I told him that you were living in a retreat for your various sicknesses. You come back once every two months for a week to visit us and your friends. I also explained this to the school. It is all taken care of Kagome."

Kagome was very relieved. This was much better than all those excuses that Grandpa came up with to get her out of school. And it was closer to the truth. The past was like a retreat, especially Sesshomaru's palace, when she had time to enjoy it. She had extremely fresh air and was waited on hand and foot when she wasn't training. It was a good thing to, since she was always too busy to do anything else like cleaning her suite. "Thanks, Mom. I guess having a tutor isn't too bad." There was still the matter of the Quadratic thingy.

Mrs. Higurashi heard a knock at the front door. She had gotten her daughter calmed down and agreeable not a moment too soon. "Kagome, honey, can you get the door? That is probably your tutor, Shuichi."

Kagome jumped when she said the name Shuichi. It couldn't be the one that Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi talked constantly about when they weren't trying to set her up with Hojo. They were members of his fan club. She really hoped that this wasn't the same guy. She didn't relish being around someone who expected her to fall over him.

Kagome was on her way to the door when she felt something on the edge of her senses. She always dulled them when she came home, not wanting to be distracted by the stray youkai that flashed across them. But this youkai was close, right outside her door as a matter of fact. His youki was muted though, kind of like a hanyou's but a little like hers since she absorbed those youkai souls. She didn't feel any malevolence from him though, so she didn't feel threatened. He couldn't sense what she was and that was all that mattered. She smelled and felt just like a normal human, just as Guardian had said she would. Speaking of Guardian…Kagome rushed over to the storage closet and put the sword in it. Miko clothing she could explain; a sword she could not. _Sorry Guardian_.

Kagome rushed back to the door and opened it to reveal the guy that she had hoped that it wasn't. Kagome barely restrained herself from letting out a groan. This was all she needed. A beautiful tutor who was also a youkai and most likely so full of himself that he expected her fall at his feet and beg him to date her. _At least now I know why he has that fan club. It's because of his unnaturally beautiful youkai looks._ Luckily her lessons with Sesshomaru had taught her something, if only to disguise the emotions that she didn't want seen. "Hello, you must be Shuichi. I'm Kagome."

Kurama was having trouble concentrating on what she was saying. She did not look like the sickly little girl that he had been expecting. She looked vibrant and healthy and…beautiful, in a wholesome way that somehow seemed to have a seductive edge. It had to be the hair and the sparkling sapphire eyes. Her hair looked like she had just gotten out of bed and not because she had been sleeping. Somehow he managed to get through the introduction without pouncing on her. Luckily Youko wasn't awake or he was sure it would have been much more difficult.

_Did you want something?_

Kurama groaned silently. _No, go back to sleep. I'm just tutoring my mother's friend's daughter. Nothing to see._ Unfortunately, Kagome chose that moment to lead him to the kitchen to introduce him to her mother, giving him, and thus Youko, a good view of her butt, not that he could see much of it given the miko garb that she had on, but what he could see made Youko extremely happy.

_And you said that there is nothing to see. From where I am it looks like there is a _lot_ to see. Not that there couldn't be more if you could find a way of getting her out of those clothes. I wouldn't stop you._

_Youko, we just met her. It is a little too soon to be planning a seduction. _

_That is where you show your youth, Red. The very second that you meet an acceptable woman is the time to start planning. You're a strategist. You should know this._

Kurama came out of his conversation with the kitsune long enough to greet Mrs. Higurashi and agree to stay for dinner. Kagome excused herself to go change her cloths.

_Now's your chance. Say you have to use the bathroom. Follow her up to her room and make your move. No woman can resist us._

_She doesn't seem all that impressed. She didn't even bat an eye when she opened the door and saw me. Most girls would have grabbed a piece of my hair as a trophy by now._

_I knew she was special. She isn't shallow, not to mention crazy, like those other girls. She is perfect._

_You think anything with breasts is perfect._

_I do not. Those fan club girls are scary._

_Finally, we agree on something. Now will you stop teasing me about them? It's getting annoying._

_Never. Just because I sympathize doesn't mean that I will let you off the hook._

_You're all heart, Youko._

_I wouldn't go that far. There is another part of my body-_

_Youko! I don't need to hear that._

_Just…Oh, God._

_What?_

_Look at the stairs._

Kurama did as he was told and promptly wished that he hadn't. Why did this have to happen now? It had been bad going through puberty with a horny, very experienced kitsune sharing your body, but this was a hundred times worse. During those days it had just been a feeling with no particular direction to it. He hadn't ever actually felt desire for another person in his human life. None tempted him even though many constantly threw themselves at him. This was bad. All the feelings that he had denied all his life were focused on this particular girl. He thanked God for his legendary control. Kagome had on a really short sundress that allowed him to see her lovely long legs. He had thought that her butt was tempting, but it was her legs that were about to drive him crazy, although the butt would not get neglected if he ever had the opportunity. He could imagine those incredible legs wrapped around him as he-

"Shuichi? Are you ready to get started?"

_You have no idea._

_Youko! I'm having a hard enough time without your commentary on the subject._

'_Hard' being the operative word._

_Just shut up._

Mrs. Higurashi looked up from the oden that she was preparing. "Kagome, why don't you take Shuichi up to your room where you can work in peace? Who knows when your grandfather and Sota will get home. It would be less disruptive if you studied there."

Kagome shrugged. "Alright. It will be easier to work at the desk anyway. Shuichi, grab a chair from the table. I only have one in my room."

"Don't do that dear, I already thought of that. There is an extra one sitting against your wall."

Kurama couldn't believe these women. What were they thinking of? They didn't know him. He could be the kind of person that would take advantage of their privacy. He wasn't all that sure that he wasn't. Being that close to her near a bed…He would need all his control and cool headedness for this.

Kagome led him up the stairs to her room. She opened the door and realized that she had forgotten her pack downstairs. "Shuichi, I forgot my backpack downstairs. Make yourself comfortable while I run down and get it."

Kurama nodded and looked around the room. It looked like a girl's room which made sense seeing as how it was a girl's room. But it wasn't sufficatingly girly. He walked over to look out the window and noticed an herb garden below the window. Someone was quite the gardener. There were species of herbs down there that he had been sure were extinct. There was also…_What the hell?! Is that a death tree from Makai?_ He had to get it before he left. There was not telling who it would hurt, even if it was too small to do much more than burn its victims. Luckily it had taken on the appearance of a regular tree so no one was curious about it.

Kagome came back with a huge yellow pack that by all rights she shouldn't have been able to carry. She must be much stronger than she looked. "I guess the retreat is working."

Kagome looked confused for a second before light dawned in her eyes. "Oh! Yes, the fresh air does wonders for me. The air is a lot fresher and cleaner there."

"Where exactly is this retreat?"

Kagome thought fast. "In the middle of nowhere, far from any cities. It has no phones so I can't call my family or anyone when I'm there. That is why I insist on coming home for a visit, even if it isn't good for my health. A week doesn't make too much of a difference."

Kurama nodded and decided to get on with the studying. He needed a distraction. The plants had worked for a while but she was back in the room now. "So, what subjects do you need the most help with?"

"Math."

"Not surprising. Most people are not fond of math. Which one do you need help in? Trig?"

"All of them."

"All of…You must understand some of it."

"Just the basic stuff that they teach early on. After that, I'm lost. It's all Greek to me, although I don't think Greek would be as difficult as math."

Kurama couldn't understand how someone could get this behind. If she was this clueless about math, how bad was she at everything else? "What else do you need help in? What about history?"

"No, history is my favorite subject. I have no problems with it. Even though I'm never in history class, I'm still leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else. I do need help in English though. Especially the grammar part. What _exactly_ is a semicolon used for?"

"We will cover that later. Is there anything else?"

"Most sciences I can get by in. Botany I excel in. I'm really lucky that my school offers botany as a science. That I can do. Literature I'm pretty good in. My reading comprehension is great. It's just that I'm not there enough to get most of my assignments so I get an incomplete most of the time. I was in the top thirty in most of my classes at my middle school before I started getting sick. My mythology class is so easy it isn't even funny. I should get to exempt it. Grandpa told me all the myths that they discuss in class when I was barely out of diapers and hundreds more since. I live at a _shrine_ for God's sake. My home economic class…certain parts of it I can do. Sewing, I have figured out how to do, but I can't figure out how to work a stove. Boiling water is the best I can do and sometimes I even mess that up. If they let me grill I would be fine. I can bake great cookies, but that is about all the baking I can do. Mom could probably help me with that, but I really have no interest in learning to cook anything except oden. The rest of the time I could order out, grill out, or just heat something up. Home Ec is not something that I'm worried about failing. I don't think that anyone has ever failed it even when they didn't do a thing. I had a B in that class and I wasn't there but maybe five days out of the whole semester." Kagome thought for a minute. "I think that's about it. Just math and English, but especially math."

Okay, not as good as he could have hoped but better than he expected after her first comment about math. He started her off with some simple problems in order to figure out where they needed to begin. She hadn't been lying. She new the very basics of algebra, but after that, nothing. He could actually take his mind off of her legs and teach her. After a while, they moved on to English and made significantly more progress there. It was hard to learn a language when you were never at class long enough to hear the words that you were supposed to be learning. He was just giving her a list of vocabulary words to learn and some problems to do when Mrs. Higurashi knocked on the door and informed them that dinner was ready and Kagome's grandfather and brother were back.

Before they went down the stairs, Kagome stopped him. "If my grandfather throws a piece of paper or some dust at you and yells 'Demon be gone!' ignore him. His imagination sometimes gets away from him."

Kurama looked at her, startled. Did she know?

Kagome caught his apprehensive look and guessed what he was worried about. "He does that to all the strangers he meets. It's embarrassing, but he's old and we like to indulge him."

Kurama exhaled the breath that he had been holding. So it was just normal behavior for him. They continued down the stairs and, sure enough, when they reached the bottom, Kurama got a face full of dust and something smashed onto his head. Someone yelled "Be gone youkai!" Well, Kagome was almost right.

"Grandpa, how many times do I have to tell you that not everyone I bring here is a youkai? You have got to stop doing that. It hurts!"

"It makes Inuyasha sneeze!" Sota piped in helpfully.

Kurama looked at him, confused. "Dog…?"

Kagome smacked her brother over the head. "Just a stray dog that my brother named. He comes around here sometimes looking for leftover roman." _Sorry Inuyasha._

Mrs. Higurashi came in from the kitchen. "Dinner is on the table everyone. I'm glad you decided to eat with us, Shuichi."

"Thank you for inviting me. I never turn down anything that smells so good."

Mrs. Higurashi laughed. "Oden is Kagome's favorite food. I made it because I didn't tell her that I was getting her a tutor. She had just gotten home when you showed up. And not one minute before you knocked she had gotten finished yelling at me for not consulting her."

Kagome turned as red as a tomato. "Mom! You didn't need to tell him _that_."

Kurama just smiled. Her blush was charming_. I can think of situations where it would be more charming._

_We are at dinner Youko. It is bad manners to get aroused at the table._

Youko snorted._ You think people don't do it all the time? Eating is a sexual act for those who know what they are looking for. See how licks her lips after each bite. I can think of more than a few uses for that tongue. And what about her chopsticks sliding in and out of her mouth? Don't tell me you can't imagine something else replacing the chopsticks._

There was no help for it. He so wasn't going to get much rest tonight. And just think, he had six more days of this to go.

* * *

Dinner was over and Kagome and Kurama were making plans to meet at the park the next day. Just as he was about to leave he remembered the death tree. "Kagome, will you show me your garden? I'm an avid gardener and I noticed an unusual tree that could be hazardous to the herbs if it continues to grow there."

"Oh, I know what you are talking about. But it doesn't seem to bother the other plants. In fact, they seem to do better since it grew up near them. There seem to be fewer weeds. But the tree is unusual. Sometimes I swear that it can understand every word I'm saying and when I trim it, I think I hear it purr." _Not to mention the youki it gives off. But it seems to repel weeds and disease for the other herbs, so it can't be _that_ bad. _

To say Kurama was startled would be putting it mildly. Even more astonishing, Youko was surprised too. "You actually _trim_ it?"

Kagome looked confused. "Isn't that what you're supposed to do with a tree?"

Kurama was astonished. Death trees didn't like anyone, except maybe for dinner. They tolerated and obeyed him only because he controlled plants. They thrived on death and were known to eat both people and youkai. Maybe he was mistaken and this wasn't a death tree after all, just something that looked like one? He had to see it up close to know for sure. He could talk to it and find out how it got here and why it was acting towards this woman the way that it was.

They arrived at the herb garden and the small tree. Sure enough, Kagome walked over to the tree and picked up her shears and cut off some brown parts. "This is my herb garden. If you would like some to take home with you, I can have them ready for you by tomorrow. It's the least I can do for all the time that you are spending tutoring me."

"Thank you. And it really is a pleasure to help you. But, about the herbs, some of them appear to be varieties that I have never seen before and I am pretty sure that this one is extinct."

"Oh, the retreat has all kinds of wildlife surrounding it. I'm not sure exactly where I found that particular one, but I'll get you a sample for your garden." Kagome yawned. "Sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night." _Or any other night for the past month._

"You should go ahead to bed. I was only going to look for a little while longer and then go home."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I will meet you here at lunchtime to study in the park."

"Okay. Well, goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow." Kagome left him and went up to her bedroom to collapse on her bed. She knew that he had wanted to examine her herb garden at his leisure. He had probably been around before the plants were extinct. He felt old and young at the same time. _Why do I seem to be running into people with weird auras lately?_ _First that weird fire overpowering ice youkai, then, this strange human/youkai mix but not._ It was confusing.

_Like attracts like._

_You do have a point as much as I hate to admit it._ Kagome sighed and snuggled under her covers. She had no idea why, but her instincts were telling her that she had nothing to fear from him. Her last thought as she fell asleep was of how beautiful his eyes were and wondering if his hair was as soft as it looked.

* * *

Kurama waited until the light in Kagome's window went off, and then turned back to the death tree. And it was a death tree. There was no mistaking its deadly aura. The question was why and how it came to be here.

Kurama nudged the tree with his mind. He was surprised by the sudden attack and had a small burn to show for it. It seemed to be warning him, of what he had no idea.

_I protect this family, youkai. I will not tell you anything else. If you value your life, do not push me._

Kurama blinked. _Youko, have you ever heard a plant speak this articulately? Or one that actually refuses us?_

_No._ He didn't elaborate.

Kurama started down the shrine steps with one last glance at the garden and the innocent looking tree. Someone had placed that tree there for a reason. But his worries that one of the family members would be hurt were unfounded. That was really the only reason that he bothered anyway. Plants, no matter how evil their nature, could not lie, especially to him. He could leave this puzzle to solve another day. He was very patient. Right now, he had more important things to think about. Like what Yomi wanted with him. Or long legs, blue eyes, and beautiful ebony hair…

* * *

Okay people. I have a _very_ rough timeline for you. I had trouble with the timing of a few things, so if you catch an inconsistency, ignore it and just enjoy the story. Some of the events discussed in the timeline will give some hints as to what is to come. Excuse the lack of bullets on the timeline; they had them before I uploaded this chapter.

10000 B.C.

Yama is born.

9000 B.C.

Guardian was forged.

79 A.D.

Sesshomaru is born.

556

Youko Kurama is born.

1176

The birth of the Shikon Jewel and the death of Midoriko.

1200

Inutaisho (the name that I will be calling Inuyasha's father, even if it is incorrect) has Toutousai forge both Tenseiga and Tetsusaiga.

1295

Inuyasha is born. Inutaisho dies.

1298

Koenma is born.

1430

Kikyo is born.

1437

Kaede is born.

1447

Naraku is born. Kikyo dies. Inuyasha is sealed. The Shikon Jewel disappears. Miroku's grandfather is cursed.

1478

Miroku is born.

1481

Sango is born.

1489

Hiei and Yukina are born and Hiei is subsequently thrown from the ice village.

1490

Shippo is born.

1497

Kagome appears and breaks the seal on Inuyasha and they meet their friends.

1498

Naraku is defeated and this story begins.

1499

May—Miroku and Sango's child is born.

June—Kagome makes her wishes and leaves.

1577

The three separate worlds are established: Human World, Spirit World, and Demon World (a.k.a. Makai). It took Yama longer than he anticipated.

1589

The Barrier between the Worlds is erected.

1678

The last miko known to exist dies out because they are no longer of much use. They are replaced by those of high spirit energy, as they start to call it. Though those that wield this power have no particular name or job. Some are not even aware that they have it. Spirit Detectives do not exist until shortly before Yusuke is born.

1981

Youko Kurama is injured and takes refuge in the body of an unborn human child who is born that same year and is known as Shuichi Minamino.

1982

Kagome, Keiko, Yusuke are born.

1987

Kagome, Keiko, and Yusuke become friends.

1989

Sota is born.

1992

Kagome's dad dies and they move to the shrine.

1996

Yusuke dies and becomes spirit detective.

1997

Kagome falls down the well to the Feudal Era and meets Inuyasha and the rest of the group.

1999

March—Kagome defeats Naraku and Yusuke leaves for Makai.

July—Kagome and Kurama meet (where we are now).

August—Kurama's mom's honeymoon and Kurama goes to Makai.

September—Kurama comes back for six months to train the six fighters that he promised to Yomi.

2000

February—Kurama goes back to Makai.

March—Yusuke proposes the tournament to decide who rules Makai.

June—Kagome comes back.

Late July—Tournament.

August—Kurama leaves Makai.

September—Kagome and Kurama start dating seriously.

November—Barrier between the worlds is lifted.

2001

August—Yusuke comes back.

December—Yusuke and Keiko's wedding.

I decided to make Kurama older than the rest because the encyclopedia said that he was fifteen at the start of the series. Yusuke was fourteen so that makes Kurama one year older, plus over a thousand more, if you count Youko into that equation.

I'm aware that Inutaisho is not really Inuyasha's father's name, but that is the only thing that I can think of to call him.

I'm also assuming that youkai children age at the normal rate until somewhere around fifteen, then the process slows down until the youkai settles into his prime, such as Sesshomaru, Inutaisho, and even Youko. But this only works for the most powerful. Less powerful youkai age much faster, sometimes even as fast as humans.

I changed the age that Yusuke goes off to Makai. I just needed to make Kagome older and since Yusuke is going to be the same age as her…

Just wanted to avoid future confusion. I hope that I didn't create some confusion instead…

Author's Note: **I may not be able to update for a while. I'm having a little trouble writing some of the later chapters. I'm not going to update until I at least get the time in the past over with. I'm at a tricky part of the story where nothing much happens but a few little things do that I have to write about to get to the other parts. Hope you can forgive me.**


	18. Chapter 17

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and a few characters that I will make up later, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

**Warning: **Lemon. This will be the last warning you will get. From now on you'll just have to find them yourselves. Although this is not a particularly good one, but it is my first so…

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

Kagome and Shuichi were sitting together in the park on a secluded bench. They were in a part of the park that she had never seen before. The bench was in a clearing surrounded by plant life and flowers of all colors. She had never seen a more beautiful place, even in the Feudal Era. Evidentially, Kagome's mom had packed them a picnic, but for the life of her, Kagome couldn't remember coming here or even getting up that morning. Shuichi was currently feeding her cherries and strawberries. Some of the juice ran down the side of her mouth, and, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, Shuichi leaned over and licked it off. Kagome tilted her head a little so that he was now licking her lips, and from there it turned into a sensual ravishment. His tongue snaked into her mouth and invited hers to join in the fun. Her body took up the invitation, but, while her mind was into it, it was scary because she couldn't seem to take control over her own body. She certainly wasn't telling it to do all these things; she didn't even know _how_ to do some of them! For goodness sake, she had never even been kissed. Well she certainly had now. But she wanted to do things and take a more active part, but her body wouldn't let her. Like now, she wanted to run her hands through his gorgeous hair and see if it was as silky as it looked, but her body wouldn't obey her. Shuichi moved from her lips to nibble on her ear, after taking a teasing nip at the base of her throat, and Kagome felt a particularly strong pulse rush through her body, going straight to the area between her legs. She felt moisture pool there and wanted to grind against him. Somehow she had ended up in his lap, facing him, with her legs around him. Then her clothes and his somehow disappeared and he was sliding inside her. God, he was thick. And long. And good. She was going to kill her friends in the present! They had told her that it hurt the first time, but all she felt was a burning pleasure that threatened to consume her. Finally, she felt her hands run through his hair and lock at the base of his neck, pulling his head to her breast. He took the pearly globe in his mouth and sucked. She felt her inner muscles pull him even deeper into her. They both groaned and Shuichi seemed to snap. He started pounding into her, in and out, faster and faster. Kagome felt something building inside her, threatening to burst out. She wasn't sure that she could survive it if it did, the pressure and tenseness inside her body were so intense, so she fought it until she couldn't fight anymore and let go.

"Kurama!" She wasn't sure why she yelled that name, she didn't even know anyone by that name, but she had no control over it. Pleasure coursed threw her body from the source of her pleasure to the tips of her hair and toes. Although her body and her mind seemed to be in complete agreement in their activities now, they were not totally in sync. But he didn't seem to have a problem with it. At least, not that she could see before she bolted upright in her bed with Kurama's name still on her lips and the vague echo of hers in her ears.

_What a dream_.

* * *

Kurama bolted upright in a similar fashion in his apartment a few miles away. _What a dream. It felt so real. _He shifted a little in his bed and found that the sheets had been soiled while he was dreaming. He was just happy that he lived alone now and didn't have to try to explain them to his mother. He sighed and got up to change the sheets and take a shower. A cold shower.

_I hope you liked my gift to you._

_Youko! I should have known that you were behind this. How am I going to look her in the eye after _that

_Hey, Red, don't put the blame entirely on me. You started that fantasy. I just made it more interesting. You didn't have the experience to know what you were missing with your chaste, while admittedly erotic, dream. Now you do, but don't expect me to stay out of the fun all the time_.

Kurama shivered. At least this was just in a dream and not in real life. Maybe if he allowed Youko a little freedom in dreamland, he would behave himself around Kagome. Better to open up negotiations so there are no chances of Youko bursting out and scaring the poor girl.

Youko growled. _I know not to come out in public. The girl has no idea about youkai and would be scared out of her mind the minute she saw my ears and tail. Although why anyone wouldn't love them I have no idea. Plus the girl isn't attracted to us._ He mumbled the last.

_What?_

Youko growled again, angry at having to explain something that was paining to him. _The girl isn't attracted to us. Normally when we walk into a room and girls catch sight of us, the smell of their arousal hits me in the face. But with this girl, _nothing_! The only thing that I smelled on her was her shampoo and body wash._

Kurama was disappointed but not entirely surprised. Kagome hadn't seemed to be all that impressed with him at the beginning. She was much friendlier towards the end of their study session. She was probably just glad to be rid of him.

_Hey, I don't think it was that bad! Maybe it's just that she isn't one of those shallow bitches that go to your school. Or maybe she's a lesbian!_ Youko brightened at the thought. _Maybe we can convince her to invite us to a little party._

_YOUKO! Must I remind you that Kagome has been sick for most of her time in high school? She probably just hasn't had time to get a boyfriend._

_Maybe we can fix that._

Kurama wished that he could. But there was the little matter of the trip to Makai. Especially given who had called him there. Kurama had no idea if he would be able to come back alive. What business did he have trying to get a girlfriend at a time like this? It was probably a good thing that she wasn't attracted to him, this way he wasn't tempted. Well not much. Okay it didn't make much difference, but it made not asking her out easier.

_You are no fun._

_I know_.

* * *

The next day, Kurama went to pick Kagome up as agreed. They would be going to his special place to study. The one from the dream. He just hoped that he could keep his mind on studying. And that she would wear something to cover up those gorgeous legs of hers.

_I repeat: You are no fun._

_I'm going to have enough of a problem with my concentration just sitting next to her. And you are no help with all the fantasies that you cook up! My reputation as the cool, calm, and collected smart one in the group is going to go flying out the window if you don't stop trying to make me lose my control._

Silence. Then-

A pulse of desire shot straight to Kurama's groin. _YOUKO!_

Laughter and then Youko withdrew to the back of their mind. He just had to leave Kurama with a parting shot. He didn't relish the pain of unfulfilled arousal anymore than Kurama did, so he would back off, but maybe he would take care of their problem later, himself. It wouldn't be as good as acting out his fantasies with Kagome, but it would provide temporary relief. Or they could just have another delicious dream tonight.

When Kagome opened the door and joined Shuichi on their walk to the park, all she could think about was the lunch basket that her mother had shoved into her hands as she was going out the door. She hoped that there were no cherries or strawberries in the basket. But, more than likely, there were because her mother knew that they were her favorite fruits. But there were probably some sort of sandwiches in there too. She would just have to avoid the fruit. There was no way she could eat them in front of Kurama…no, _Shuichi._ Not after that dream last night.

They entered the park not far from Kurama's apartment and made their way to Kurama's special spot. He knew that coming here was only going to make it worse but he wanted to show her his sanctuary. Not even Hiei had ever been here.

Kagome gasped when she saw the clearing in the middle of the park, the most secluded part. It was the very image of the clearing in her dream, including the bench, except now it had a back on it. She resigned herself to not getting anything done today. There was no way that she could think in this place…at least, not about anything school related. "This is a beautiful place K-Shuichi." Luckily, he didn't notice her slip, too caught up in his own inner battle with his body. "Do you come here often?"

"All the time. Whenever I need a quiet place to think. No one ever comes here so we shouldn't be bothered. Do you want to sit on the bench or on the tablecloth that your mother packed?"

Kagome was relieved that they wouldn't have to sit on the bench. One less thing to remind her of how close he was. "It would be easier to study on the ground. Should we get started or eat first?" _Please say study_.

"Let's get started now, then we can take a break later." They studied for about two hours, each trying to put their hunger on hold, and not just for food. Surprisingly, Kagome's English was somewhat improved. It was probably the way Shuichi's voice seemed to caress the words as he spoke them. She concentrated so hard on his voice that it was hard not to learn something. But not even he could make math sound sexy.

Finally, Kagome's stomach growled, putting an end to the lesson. "You should have told me to stop. It wasn't my intention to starve you."

"I didn't realize how hungry I was." Kagome lied. She stared at the basket with dread before pulling it to her and looking inside. Sure enough, there were strawberries, cherries, sandwiches, and…bananas. _Thank you Mom!_ Now she could eat some kind of fruit without being reminded of her dream.

Kurama groaned silently when he saw the selection, especially when Kagome immediately claimed a banana and started to eat it. He knew what he was going to be dreaming about tonight. Better get out an extra pair of sheets.

_We are lusting after an incredibly dense person._

_She's not dense, she's…dense_. Kurama tried to defend Kagome with a sigh. _Either that or too innocent to know what she's doing._

_No one is _that_ innocent in this day and age._

He did have a point.

Kurama was extremely relieved when she polished off the banana and began to work on her sandwich, avoiding the strawberries and cherries. She probably didn't like them, which was odd considering that her mother packed the lunch. Well, if she didn't want any, he would eat them. He much preferred fruit to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches any day.

Kagome desperately tried not to look at Kur-Kurama. She gave up trying to stop calling him that name in her mind, anyway. Let's see. Distraction! She could always tell him that she was calling him that after the legendary thief, Youko Kurama, who Shippo had told her about. Her grandfather even had some stories about him, not that she really believed them. But why would she say that she was calling Kurama by that name? That she had heard that the fox youkai had been beautiful and since Kurama was also a fox…sort of, at least if what her senses were telling her were accurate…and also beautiful, she had decided to call him that? That he stole her concentration? None of those were any good. Then he would know how much he was getting to her. Stupid dream. Stupid incredibly silky, beautiful hair and gorgeous green eyes filling with desire and flashing gold as he lowered her…STOP! She was a pure priestess dammit! She wasn't supposed to be thinking about _THAT_! Some juice trickled down Kurama's chin and Kagome reached her breaking point.

She put on a big smile and tried to hide the fact that all she wanted to do was shove him on his back and kiss him senseless. "I think that that is enough for the day. No need to walk me home, I'll just gather up the stuff and leave you to your solitude. No, don't get up! Finish your lunch. You can bring the stuff when you come over tomorrow. Thank you for taking the time to tutor me. Bye!" She wasted no time in high tailing it out of there, not wanting to make a complete fool of herself by trying to act out her dream.

Kurama stared after her, wondering at what had gotten into her.

_Maybe _we're _finally getting to her._

_Did you smell anything?_

_Damn._

Kurama sighed. He packed up the stuff and headed home, not having much of an appetite anymore. Maybe he would go and see Keiko and get her take on this situation…No. Keiko was almost as innocent as Kagome and would probably not understand his desires, nor would he feel comfortable discussing them with her. Maybe Genkai or Shizuru. Shizuru probably would be the best bet. She wouldn't make too big a deal out of this.

* * *

"You're actual interested in a girl and she doesn't seem to be interested in you? Is she dead? Or just stupid?" Shizuru took a deep drag of her cigarette. "I'm a little surprised though. I thought that maybe you were gay."

Kurama had to close his eyes and count to ten at that last comment. Shizuru sure knew how to build you up, only to shoot you down lower than you had been before you came to her for advice. "I am not, nor have I ever been, gay. I'm _selective_."

"Well excuse a girl for wondering." Shizuru blew a smoke ring. "Be glad Kazuma isn't here. He would never let you live this down. As for the girl…" She shrugged. "If you really like her, you should ask her out."

"I wish I could. But is it fair to her to start a relationship with her when I may not be coming back from Makai?"

Shizuru frowned. "What do you mean? Do you think that someone would prevent you from coming back?"

Kurama shook his head. "There is always the chance when entering Makai of someone managing to kill me. And Yomi and I didn't part on the best of terms. I'm not sure how much he knows about the circumstances of what happened a thousand years ago, but there is a chance that he will want revenge."

Shizuru leaned back in her chair. "And I suppose that you aren't going to tell me what those circumstances were?"

"I'm ashamed of some of my actions in my former life. Yomi is one of those things that I am ashamed of. I could have dealt with him differently and things could have had a vastly different outcome. I did the easy and smart thing at the time, but there were better ways that I could have handled it."

Shizuru smiled. "I guess that means no." She stood. "Kurama, you should tell her that you like her. Maybe not now, but when you come back. Maybe you would have gotten to know her better by then and she would have gotten to know you. I'm sure that she will like you just as much as you like her if you open up to her."

Kurama stood too. "I thank you for your advice on this matter. I will consider it." He turned to leave.

"Kurama." He turned back around. Shizuru hugged him. "If I don't see you before you leave, good luck. Call me as soon as you get back to fill me in."

Kurama and once again turned to leave. He left the apartment and went to his own. He had some decisions to make.

* * *

Does this seem a little rushed or forced to you? I'm not the best judge of my own work. I can think of a scene in my mind and see it, but when I go to write it down, I can't remember exactly the way that I put things that made them sound so good in the first place. I hope that this doesn't sound as bad as I think it does to other people. I see now why they say writers are so insecure and needy. I certainly feel that way.

**I don't think that I am all that good at lemons. I will try to get better, but I can't promise anything. I'm afraid my experience in that area is limited to what I have read in books and listening to my friends talk. Although if you knew my friends…**


	19. Chapter 18

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and a few characters that I will make up later, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

* * *

Chapter Eighteen

Shuichi's human body was about to reach its limit. He had not had a restful night's sleep in four days. Even Youko was denying instigating the dreams. They were coming all on their own. During his lessons with Kagome, he couldn't keep focused. For once he had no problem keeping his hands off of Kagome. He was too tired to do anything. The third time that his head nodded forward in thirty minutes was the last straw for Kagome. She didn't think that he was as pigheaded as Inuyasha, but it never hurt to save a guy's pride. The way that he was going, she didn't even think that he would make it home in one piece. "Shuichi, why don't we finish the English lesson on the bed? It's much more comfortable and my butt is going to fall off if I don't get out of this hard chair. I don't know what Mom was thinking when she bought these." She said this completely ignoring the fact that they were actually very comfortable with the cushions that her mother had placed on them.

Kurama blushed. "I guess, if it would make you more comfortable."

Kagome smiled and took a seat at the foot of the bed and motioned for Kurama to sit at the head. "Thanks." They continued their lesson until Kurama's head fell back against her headboard. The position didn't look very comfortable, but Kagome decided that she would wait for a while until he was more deeply asleep to make him more comfortable. She would have never gotten away with manipulating him if he was at his best, but if he was, then she wouldn't feel the need to. Kagome went back to her desk and sat studying her English vocabulary words until she guessed that he was as deeply asleep as he was going to get. She moved his legs gently onto the bed and moved him farther down the headboard until his head was on her pillow. Kurama groaned and Kagome froze, but he just turned his head to where his lips were just touching the palm of her hand and rubbed them against her in a gentle kiss. A jolt of desire shot through her and she slowly pulled her hand away from his lips which settled in a frown at being denied. Instead she ran her fingers through his hair, and she could have sworn that he purred. His hair was as silky as she had felt in her dreams the last three nights. Luckily the dreams only came in the later part of the night after her lessons were over so they only interrupted her rest. She reluctantly extracted her fingers from his hair and grabbed the spare blanket at the foot of her bed and spread it over him. She studied his face, which was unguarded in sleep. He looked stressed and exhausted. He needed to loosen up. Maybe tomorrow she could do something about that.

She went downstairs, explained what happened to her mother, who then called his mother just in case she decided to call him or come over and found him gone, and then ate dinner with her family. She went to the God Tree and tried to think what would be the best thing to do to cheer Kurama up as she sat on Inuyasha's favorite branch. She thought of the things that she knew about him and decided that he needed to get entirely out of his comfort zone. She knew just the place.

* * *

Kurama woke up the next day with the sun shining in his face, vaguely surprised that he had managed to go the entire night without dreaming even once. The next thing that he noticed was that he was under a pink blanket and not his usual white one. He didn't even own a pink blanket; his friends already wondered about him enough as it was. And next…it smelled like Kagome. He was in _her_ bed!

Kurama quickly sat up and looked around, remembering yesterday. He must have fallen asleep on her bed after she suggested she would be more comfortable…He fell back on the bed and started to smile. He had been manipulated. _Him._ By a girl over a thousand years his junior…at least in experience. He let out a small chuckle. Maybe she's even more suitable for him than he had originally thought.

_Yes, the girl is crafty. Not in our league, but then again no one is._

"Oh, you're awake."

Kurama jumped. How had she opened the door without him noticing?

_Add stealthy to the list._

Kagome walked over to him carrying a breakfast tray. "I hope you like pancakes. Mom suggested I bring you up a tray since you slept through breakfast."

Kurama started to blush. "I'm sorry-"

Kagome shook her head, cutting him off. "Don't worry about it. You seemed to be exhausted and you still came over to tutor me. I was just trying to assuage my guilt." Her lips curved into a sly smile. "But you could make it up to me by doing what I want to do today instead of studying. You did take over my bed. I had to sleep on the _couch_. But if you don't want to spend the day with me, that's fine. I'm sure I'll find _something_ to do. Maybe sweep the shrine steps or stare off into space…" Kagome stared at the carpet and tried her best to look pitiful, a pretty good attempt after all the time she had watched Shippo.

Kurama knew exactly what she was doing and was charmed by it. He saw no reason not to let her think that she was getting her way. He would like nothing more than to spend the day with her. "I would be honored to spend the day with you."

Kagome let out a cheer. "Hurry up and finish your breakfast. We need to hurry by your apartment for you to change your clothes and then we're going…to the AMUSEMENT PARK!" Kagome flounced out of the room.

Kurama groaned. An _amusement _park? He hadn't been to one since he was four and had made it clear to his mother that he was not amused and would appreciate never having to go there again. It still made him feel guilty remembering the hurt look on her face. He decided that he would endure whatever Kagome had in mind for today and not say one derogatory thing about it. He wouldn't be responsible for hurting Kagome's feelings.

* * *

Kagome looked around Kurama's apartment. "Wow. This is a really nice apartment." It was exquisitely decorated in forest and emerald greens and with mahogany furniture. There were plants everywhere that was appropriate. He even had a balcony with a small garden adjoining the living room. It had a great view of the city that must be even more spectacular at night. All in all, it must have cost him a fortune. How did he manage this when he was still in high school?

Kurama saw the questioning look and guessed where her thoughts had gone. "My father left me a small inheritance when he died. It was left in a trust for me. My mother turned over the management of it to me a few years ago and it has grown since then. I prefer to live alone now that she will soon be remarrying." It was sort of the truth. His past hauls as Youko had paid for most of it (luckily he had had a stash in Human World left over from before youkai and humans were separated into their own worlds), but his father did leave a trust for him. It seemed that he had a talent for making money in addition to stealing it, even though he didn't do that anymore, at least not much and never anything major since the Forlorn Hope. It wasn't as if he could _totally_ deny his kitsune nature. "I will only be but a moment. You may sit down if you wish."

"May I go out on the balcony? It looks like a miniature jungle out there." Kurama smiled and nodded, then went into his room to change. On the way to the balcony, Kagome noticed a picture of Kurama, as she still called him in her mind, and a woman whom she assumed to be his mother. Kurama was wearing a hideous purplish-pink school uniform that, while he still looked incredibly handsome and dignified, clashed horribly with his hair. She was still staring at the picture when Kurama emerged from his room dressed in an emerald green shirt that his mother had said matched his eyes and black jeans.

"I thought you were going to be waiting on the balcony."

Kagome jumped and turned her scandalized eyes to the flesh and blood Kurama. "Shuichi, I don't know if anyone has ever told you this but…" she picked up the picture and pointed at his uniform. "This is hideous."

Kurama started to turn as red as his hair. Youko was currently laughing his ass off inside his head. "It was what we were required to wear at school."

"The person that picked these uniforms out must have either had terrible fashion sense or been on drugs at the time. That shade of pink is hardly ever a good idea, especially not on teenage boys. It will be a wonder if none of you poor boys are scarred for life!"

If possible, Kurama turned even redder. He mumbled, "I didn't think _that_ it was that bad."

Kagome looked at him incredulously. "Who decorated this apartment?"

Kurama looked confused at the change in topic. "I did. Why?"

"I find it hard to believe that someone with this kind of elegant taste would find wearing that bearable."

Kurama had never really thought about it that way. Sure he preferred more understated colors when he wasn't in school, but he had never really thought the uniform was as bad as she was making it out to be. To tell the truth, he didn't really care all that much about his cloths. Youko was the one that was horribly vain. Come to think of it, the first time that he had seen the uniform he had almost had a heart attack.

"It's no wonder you have such a problem with your fan clubs. With that hair of yours combined with that uniform, they could see you coming a mile away. It would be almost impossible for you to get lost in a crowd. But I'm surprised that people didn't think that you were gay. My friend Yuka has been a member of your fan club for years, even though she doesn't go to your school. She told me that you are really secretive and have very refined mannerisms, but she never once thought that you were gay."

Kurama's face was really burning now, not only with embarrassment, but with annoyance as well. Why did everyone think that he was gay? Just because he had never had a girlfriend or even shown interest in one didn't automatically mean that he was gay. Now the one girl that he _was_ interested in thought that he might be. No wonder she didn't seem to find him attractive. She thought that he was interested in other guys! A big turnoff for some women, although some women…

_Youko stop sneaking into my thoughts! I don't need this right now._

Kagome noticed Kurama's embarrassed face and the slight annoyance in his expression. Her own face started flaming as she thought of how her comments must have sounded to him. "Not that I actually think that you are. I was just wondering why no one wondered. I mean, even you have to admit…I'm just digging myself a bigger hole, aren't I?" Kagome finished sheepishly.

Kurama nodded, still slightly annoyed. Why was it that everyone thought him feminine? Was it because of his roses? But then, that part was because of Youko and no one had ever thought that _he _was gay. But he had had numerous past lovers while Kurama had never even had one. Maybe that had something to do with it. But Youko hadn't been attracted to anyone that they had met either. At least not enough to do anything about it. And the fox was not going to settle for anything but the best. And evidently they had found the best.

"You just have some slightly feminine facial features, but you have a decidedly masculine presence. I mean you are very…" Kagome thought quickly, turning even more red than Kurama's hair. _Built? Muscular? Sexy? Should I tell him that he gives off this predatory air? Or that I have been having very naughty dreams with him as the star?_ "Let's just say that no one could mistake you in a million years for a girl or as being gay if they had any sort of sensitivity or intelligence. So on second thought, I'm not surprised that no one thought so."

Kurama wondered at the blush. Could she be more interested in him than she let on? But there was still that lack of a certain smell. He wondered what he would do if he ever did smell her arousal.

_I could think of quite a few things. I will show them to you later if you are interested…_ Youko trailed off suggestively.

Kurama almost groaned. He could just imagine some of the spirit fox's more intense fantasies. He had had to endure them often over the years, but had never had a face to put with the body in the fantasies. Now that they had both Kagome's face and body…Let's just say that he imagined that it would be ten times worse.

Kagome decided that she had had enough with being embarrassed. "Let's go! I haven't been to an amusement park in years. This is going to be so much fun!" Kagome set out the door happily while Kurama trailed behind her reluctantly. He really didn't want to do this, but since Kagome was so looking forward to it, he wasn't going to say or do anything to hinder her enjoyment by letting her know that he wasn't having as much fun as she was.

Kagome saw that he was less than thrilled with her choice of destination and was more determined than ever to make sure that he got his mind off of whatever was bothering him and have fun. Plus this particular amusement park had a spectacular garden right in the center of the park. If nothing else, he should enjoy that.

Kagome suddenly noticed that he wasn't catching up to her and turned around, marched up to him, grabbed his hand, ignored the sparks that flew up her arm as best she could, and told him to hurry up.

Kurama couldn't help but smile at her excitement. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad considering the company.

Unnoticed by the pair, across the street in a small café, they had been spotted by a certain blue-haired grim reaper that was currently giving a report of the goings on in Spirit World to her ex-boss, the exiled Koenma. Botan stopped right in the middle of her report, seeing Kurama. Just as she was about to point him out to Koenma, a very pretty girl rushed up and grabbed his hand, dragging him laughing past the café. Botan was even more surprised to see Kurama smiling at the girl indulgently and allowing himself to be dragged. So the girl wasn't just one of his usual fan girls. He cared something for her. Botan quickly pointed the pair out to Koenma. "Do you think that that could be Kurama's new girlfriend? Or could she be a relative? I always got the impression that Kurama was gay. I mean, he doesn't ever make inappropriate comments or try to do anything inappropriate to girls. Plus, he has girls chasing him left and right but has never taken them up on any of their offers, if my sources are correct. Who could she be? Maybe we should follow them…" Botan got up to do just that when her old boss in teenage form pulled her down.

"Botan now is not the time to be wondering about Kurama's love life. We have more important things to discuss." Koenma was reluctant to admit it, but he also desperately wanted to go after the former spirit detective and find out the facts of his female companion. He didn't have much to occupy himself with in human world after being exiled by his father. He was impossibly bored but that didn't mean that he would pounce on anything to do, especially spying on his friends. Although, if you couldn't spy on your friends, who could you spy on? And he really wanted to see that girls face; she reminded him of someone. He just couldn't figure out who. By the time Botan had pointed the girl out, she had turned her face away from the café. But if Kurama was interested in her, she had to be something. "Let's go Botan!"

Botan wasn't really surprised that her boss had changed his mind. He was really bored living the life of a normal human. Well not normal, but as normal as the prince of Spirit World could be while in hiding from his father. They both threw some money on the table and ran out of the café. Unfortunately, the couple that they were chasing was nowhere in sight. They both sighed in disappointment and went back into the café for Botan to finish her report.

* * *

Kurama had had to fight Kagome when it came time to pay for their tickets. Kagome finally won the fight when she told him that he could pay for their next date but since this one was her idea, she was going to pay for it. While he was still in shock over her calling the day a date, Kagome paid for the tickets.

Kurama decided to clarify the date comment. "When you say date…"

Kagome smiled innocently. "Who says friends can't go on dates?"

_We were just manipulated again. If it was anyone else they would be dead right now, but on her I think that it is charming. I have no idea why._

Kurama snorted in his mind. _It might be because you want to get in her pants_.

_My, my, aren't we a crude one today. You have been hanging around Yusuke entirely too much_.

_Either that or I have been listening to you entirely too much. You seem to be more talkative since Sensui. Why is that?_

_We are becoming closer in experience. You are far more powerful now, almost more powerful than I was when I was alive. We are more in accord now. Eventually, I expect that our souls will completely merge and you will be able to transform into me whenever you want, if you can't already do that now. When this happens we will truly be one soul and will not part for eternity._

Kurama was vaguely horrified by this idea. If this happened, how could he explain it to his mother? It would be better if he could explain to her that he had a kitsune soul along with a human one, but when they merged wouldn't Youko's soul also be a part of his? Would he change? Would his lifespan be that of a youkai? How could he ever have even a remotely normal life if this happened? Would Kagome understand or would she reject him? Could he keep it from her or did he even want to? It was killing him, keeping his past activities from his mother. He could only imagine what it would be like keeping it from his wife. Wait a second, where did that thought come from? They hadn't even kissed yet and already he was thinking about marriage?

Youko felt that he should have known that Kurama would react this way. He was so lost in thought after the first few questions flew through their mind that he didn't even catch the last few of Kagome. He didn't want to make it worse by confirming his fears, but knew that he had no chance of enjoying the day if Youko didn't tell him it all. _Yes, you will have a youkai lifespan. No, you won't change because we will both still be conscious. You have always been a part of me, just as I have been apart of you. You are more of a mixture of who you would have been as a human and me. Your soul will just be more harmonized and you will be more powerful for it. It would be best if you just accept it. The more your body becomes used to transforming into my youkai one, the more harmonized our souls will become. _

Kurama didn't want to think about that now. It was too much too soon. He would think about it later, when he was alone. He pulled his attention from the conversation inside his head to pay more attention to what Kagome was saying.

"I think that I would like to go on all the roller coasters here. Then maybe…Oh my God a merry-go-round! Come on Shuichi!" Kagome dragged him over to the line, which wasn't very long. Kurama had to laugh; there was a certain charm in acting like a child. He hadn't even acted like one when he was one. They each got on a horse next to each other and waited for the ride to begin.

Kagome was looking around, waiting for the ride to start, when she noticed a woman in a wheeled chair trying to get her son to go on the ride. It seemed that the boy was afraid to get on by himself. The mother didn't want cause trouble by attempting to get on the ride. It was already embarrassing enough to be seen arguing with her son who didn't understand his mother's dilemma. Her son had begged her to bring him here. It was his birthday so she couldn't bring herself to refuse, no matter the embarrassment it caused her. She knew that she probably could have rode with him, but she couldn't stand the pitying looks that were bound to be thrown her way.

Kagome got off the ride and went over to the pair. She tapped the little boy on the shoulder and winked at the mother. "Hi. Do you think that you could ride with me? These rides go so fast that I need a strong man to make sure that I don't fall off. Are you up for the job?"

The little boy nodded shyly at the pretty lady and his mother smiled gratefully. Kagome smiled at them both. "My name is Kagome Higurashi."

The other woman smiled. "My name is Mila Makamatsu (**A/N:** Another made up name as are virtually all the names I use). And this little man is Kohaku."

"Wow. One of my best friends' little brother is named Kohaku! We're going to get along just fine." Kagome took out the disposable camera that she had bought earlier and handed it to his mom. "Mrs. Makamatsu, would you mind taking a few pictures? I would love a few pictures of my new friend here!"

"I would be glad to. And please call me Mila. I'm not _that_ much older than you!" Mila said laughingly as she took the camera.

Kagome and Kohaku made their way back to Kurama. Kagome lifted Kohaku onto her horse and got on behind him. "Kohaku, this is Shuichi. He's my friend too."

The little boy looked at Kurama slyly. "Is he your _boyfriend_?"

Kagome blushed and then laughed. "I guess you could say that. He _is_ a boy and he_ is_ my friend."

The ride started and Kohaku started yelling and laughing. Kurama looked at the pair and imagined how she would look with their own children. _Stop, it is too soon for that kind of thinking!_ But somehow he couldn't help it. It was like he had been waiting his entire life to meet her. And it just had to be at a time when he was so unsure of his future. He decided to just enjoy the day and leave the future to be worried over for later, which was completely unlike him.

When the ride was over, Kagome returned Kohaku to his mother and retrieved her camera. "Do you want me to send you some of these?"

Mila nodded, thanked her for her thoughtfulness, and gave Kagome her address. They made their way over to more of the children's rides, with Kohaku in the lead. It seemed that he had gotten over his fear of them.

Kurama and Kagome made their way to the roller coasters and soon were laughing their heads off. Kurama was surprised that he was enjoying himself so much. He normally wouldn't be caught dead at one of these places. It was too childish and he had _never _been childish. Youko was even having fun and for once stopped making perverted comments.

Then they went to some of the booths with stuffed prizes and other things to be won. Kagome laughingly pointed to one of the booths. "Since I am the initiator of this date, I believe that it is my responsibility to win you something to remember it by." She made her way to the booths, examining each one before a special one caught her eye. _Archery. Yes!_ She bounded up to the booth and examined the rules. You got three arrows. There was a really small bull's eye and two circles surrounding the bull's eye. If you got all three arrows in the bull's eye, then you got a big prize. There was a more thorough breakdown of the specifications of who got what category of prize, but she wouldn't need it as she was going to hit the bull's eye every time. "I would like three arrows please."

Kurama was shaking his head at her. "Kagome, you do know that these games are rigged?" The operator of the booth looked offended at the suggestion.

As soon as Kagome picked up the arrows, she felt the unbalance of them. It was nothing that she couldn't handle. After all, she was used to using arrows made by hand anyway. She was used to shooting with unbalanced arrows. If she could shoot with Shippo's awful attempt at becoming a bow, then she could shoot with unbalanced arrows. "It doesn't matter. I am very good at this." She shot the first arrow, and sure enough, it landed right in the center. More quickly than the other two could even draw in their breath, she had shot the other two arrows. All three were nestled in the center, right on top of each other.

_Wow._ Youko thought breathlessly.

Kurama was in too much shock to comment. Kagome tried to ask him what he wanted, but he didn't answer, so she chose a huge stuffed rose and presented it to him with flourish. "For you my lord." She said with a curtsy.

Kurama finally snapped out of it and took the rose. "Where did you learn to shoot like that?"

Kagome had already come up with a story for this. "I sometimes teach an archery class at the shrine. Plus I had it in P.E."

Kurama accepted her answer. Youko was still a tad suspicious but decided to let it go. "Why a rose?"

Kagome blushed. "It's because you smell like roses. Plus you are into gardening. It seemed appropriate. And aren't you supposed to give your date a rose? I wouldn't know, I haven't been on many of them."

Kurama blushed as well. That was the third time that she had referred to this as a date.

_I swear, you have blushed more in the few days than you have in your entire life. Get a grip!_

_As if you could do any better!_

_Oh I know that I could. I would make her blush spread to her entire body before I would have even a tinge of red on my cheeks._

Kurama tried not to think of the mental image that comment threatened to provoke. He brought his attention back to Kagome. They were now in a garden. It was actually a pretty good one, at least as much as one cared for by humans could be. They had actually managed to purvey a wildness while still keeping it kept and controlled, an almost impossible task to do well. The paths were winding and you never knew what was around the next bend. Kagome had bought lunch while Kurama and Youko were having their inner conversation, so they found a nice spot and sat down to eat. They each talked about their childhood and Kurama told her as much as he could without telling her everything. He told of her of his aloofness towards his mother as a child and about his father dying. He told her of his mother saving him when he was young and of her getting sick. He didn't tell her about his friends, not wanting to get into that this quick.

They finished lunch and left the garden to ride some of the more tame rides until their stomachs settled. They even rode some of the water rides and Kagome got a kick out of Kurama looking like a drowned rat with all his long hair. That was until she got dunked. Then it was Kurama's turn.

It was sunset when they decided that it was time to leave. Kurama walked Kagome to the shrine. "Thanks for taking me, Kagome, I had a wonderful time."

Kagome peeked up at him. "Did it get your mind off whatever it was that was bothering you? You look so worried at times when you think that I'm not watching. I just wanted to get your mind off of it, at least for a day. Did it work?"

Kurama was flabbergasted. People who had just met him were not supposed to be able to tell when he was worried. He was supposed to be unreadable! Not even Hiei knew what he was feeling at most times. Oh, Hiei thought that he was an open book to him with his Jagan, but Youko had not lived for over a thousand years without having learned a few tricks. Hiei only saw and heard what he wanted him to see and hear. But it seemed that this girl had no problems reading his emotions.

Kagome saw his confusion. "You obviously haven't been sleeping well and when you were sleeping, I could see the worry in your face. I just thought that you could use a day free of worry."

Kurama smiled. "Thank you. And yes, it did take my mind off what was bothering me. I had fun, as surprising as that is for me to admit. I always thought that going to the amusement park was childish, even when I was a child. But somehow it didn't seem so today."

Kagome laughed. "The fact that it's childish is part of the fun. We got to be children again, without having to worry about the height restrictions on the rides. Goodnight, Shuichi." As Kagome turned to make her way up the steps, Kurama grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Call me Kurama." Kurama said, for some reason wanting her to call him by his true name.

Kagome smiled, but inside she was reeling. _Part of the dream was _real_? Could the dreams be a vision of some sort? Would they happen in the future?_ Kagome blushed, remembering some of the more graphic dreams. God, she hoped so. Wait a second, where had _that_ thought come from?!

Kikyo stirred inside her head. _Well, you try being chaste your whole life and afterlife. Well, that describes you as well, so let's face it: as a whole, we haven't gotten 'laid', as the people in your time call it, since well before Midoriko. That means that we haven't had sex in over a thousand years!_ Any_one would be a little restless after that long._

Kagome could have done without that information. It just made her predicament twice as bad. Now she was feeling justified in her desire and that made it easier to accept the dreams as being normal. But that didn't explain the strange connection that she felt with Kurama.

"Goodnight…Kurama." Kagome went up the steps of the shrine and into the house. Everyone was asking her how her date went, but Kagome seemed slightly dazed, so her mother herded everyone away from her, and gave her permission to go up to her room. She went immediately to sleep, figuring that if she could get her lessons over and done with early, then the dreams might come earlier.

* * *

Kurama came over the next morning and tutored her, acting like the day before had never happened. Kagome was extremely hurt by his attitude as well as confused. She had thought that it had been a good day and that he thought so too. As she said goodbye to him after the lessons, she gave him a questioning look.

Kurama knew that she was confused, but he wasn't going to make her wonder if he never came back. There was nothing that he could do about his mother, but any feelings that Kagome had or might develop could be stopped. He really didn't want to hurt her, but until he could be sure that his past would not interfere with his future, he didn't want to get involved with her. He left without giving her the explanation she sought. It was better this way.

Kagome didn't know what was going on with Kurama. Maybe he didn't want to have a relationship with her, even as a friend. Or maybe he thought that she was pushing him into something more. She was used to being rejected by Inuyasha. She could take it. She wouldn't push like she had with Inuyasha. She had found out the hard way how much it hurt to be continually rejected. She would just put on her patented happy face and not show how much his rejection hurt her. She had had plenty of time to perfect that particular expression before she accepted that all that Inuyasha and she were ever going to be was friends. She would let him know that she was only interested in him as a friend and that should put his mind at ease.

The rest of the week passed in much the same fashion as that day. They were polite, but distant. But the dreams kept on coming, making the strain even worse between them. Kagome was glad when it was time for her to go back to the Feudal Era. She really hoped that Sango was out and about by the time she got back. She really needed to talk with her.

* * *

Well, that was the first week of Kurama and Kagome's relationship. I hope that I can get the timing right in all this. It is kind of hard to figure out when I want certain events to happen. Well, I suppose I could always change it later. It will be a while before I bring the rest of the group in. This story is progressing far more slowly than I originally intended. I didn't want to drag it out this far, but these things have a mind of their own.

Also, with the boy and his mother I had originally intended for them to play a bigger part in the story, but then I realized how much trouble it was just to keep up with the characters already in the story, and I had to rethink it. I was going to have the child be a hanyou and Kagome help him through it. The father was going to have left them because he couldn't understand his wife's weakness. And let's face it, hanyous are looked down upon and most youkai wouldn't like having one tagging around with them so it only made sense to have him stay with his mother. But my brain could only take so much and I'm having enough trouble writing this as it is without having to worry about more characters and story lines.


	20. Chapter 19

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and a few characters that I will make up later, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

---On the other side of the well---

Inuyasha was pacing back and forth in front of the well impatiently. "Where the hell is that wench?"

Unfortunately, said wench heard him from the bottom of the well. "Osuwari." It was really more out of habit than anything. Kagome climbed out of the well and stepped on a big rock, almost falling. Kagome looked down to move the rock out of the way and found that the rock was actually Inuyasha's head currently being smashed into the ground by her foot. "Oh, sorry Inuyasha. What are you doing on the ground?" Kagome hadn't even noticed when she sat him, she was that distracted.

Inuyasha spit out the mouthful of dirt that had been forced into his mouth when he had started to yell at her only to be stomped on before he got the chance. "WHAT THE HELL! You sat me, then you step on me, and now you don't even remember? What is your problem?!"

Kagome glared at him. "Well, I'm sure that I had a good reason for sitting you Inuyasha. (**A/N**: In case you haven't noticed, only the 'osuwari' is the subduing word. It just made it easier for me that way. Although I may change that at various points in my story for comedic purposes. In fact, I already have one such moment in mind.) At the moment I have more important things on my mind than your insults. Is Sango out and about?"

Inuyasha got up and dusted himself off. "I'm not sure I should tell you."

Kagome growled and Inuyasha started to look scared. "They came out yesterday. For a little bit. To train and check on Kohaku. Although I don't think what they did could be called training. More like flirting with weapons." Inuyasha rushed all this out and braced himself in preparation for hitting the ground. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes only to see Kagome walking calmly away with her bag propped up on her shoulder.

She glanced at him gaping at her. "We better get going Inuyasha. You know how Sesshomaru gets when he feels he has been kept waiting." Inuyasha fell to the ground all by himself, without any help from the rosary. What had gotten in to Kagome? She wasn't as predictable anymore. Maybe the training with Sesshomaru was good for her. _And for my back,_ he thought silently.

He ran to catch up. "Let me take this, it will be faster that way." He reached for the bag.

Kagome was shaking her head at him. "Wait until-"

Inuyasha took the bag and it carried him straight to the ground, almost ripping his arm off with the weight. "What the hell!"

"-I take the spell off. Inuyasha, you really should listen to me every once in a while. It would really save a lot of time and effort. As for the spell, I figured that this would be a good anti-theft tool. It is great for training when you cast it on your clothes or some weights. That was how I trained in my era. A lot less suspicious than seeing a supposedly sick high school girl running around punching trees. More time efficient, too, with all the lessons and responsibilities that keep popping up. You know how my mom wanted to get me a tutor so that I wouldn't get too behind? Well, she did and without asking me first. As soon as I got home I was ambushed. Although I have to admit that it is doing me a lot of good. He is really quite smart and good at explaining things-"

Inuyasha stopped in his tracks. "HE!"

"Yes, he. He was actually really nice, well he still is, but now he seems distant and distracted. Just because we went on a date to the amusement park. At least, that seems to be what triggered it."

"DATE!" Inuyasha yelled, dropping the bag and starting back to the well, rolling up his sleeves as he went.

Kagome ran up ahead of him to stop him from going through the well. "What are you doing Inuyasha? You can't still be jealous! It's not like it was a date-date. We just went as friends." _Better not mention the dreams, not that it is any of his business anyway._

_Very good idea. I never thought about it before, but I never really desired Inuyasha, at least not like this. It was more of a sense of belonging than anything. We were both alone and we mistook that for love. It's sad, but there it is. I just hope that he can find someone that can love him in the way that he deserves. _

Kagome silently agreed with Kikyo. She turned her attention back to Inuyasha and noticed that he had calmed down. "Plus, you couldn't have just gone up and attacked him. He would have smelled that you were a hanyou. He has a peculiar aura, but he is definitely youkai." Kagome said matter-of-factly.

That got Inuyasha all worked up again. "There are YOUKAI in your time! That's it; I'm never going to let you go back, no matter what Midoriko says! It's too dangerous for you to be going around back there without me to protect you." Inuyasha was so busy contemplating the horrors of what could happen to her that he didn't notice his danger.

Kagome drew back her fist and let it fly at Inuyasha's face. When it connected Inuyasha flew back twenty feet into the God Tree and crashed on his head with a sickening thud. Lucky Inuyasha's head was as hard as a rock. In fact, Kagome had seen Inuyasha's head break some pretty big boulders without fazing him. "I think that I can protect myself now. If I couldn't, Sesshomaru would have killed me more often than he already has." Kagome walked over to where Inuyasha was laying against the God Tree on his head. "Are you okay Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha slowly got to his feet rubbing his head, his bangs covering his eyes. "Kagome…"

Kagome slowly backed away from him, giggling nervously. _This could be one way to get him to Sesshomaru's before Sesshomaru takes it upon himself to come get me._ "Now, Inuyasha, you wouldn't hurt your best friend in the entire world would you?"

"Kagome…" Inuyasha started to growl.

Kagome took off running in the direction of Sesshomaru's palace, chanting a moving-barrier spell to hide both her and Inuyasha's presence completely from anyone who would think to attack them. Kagome ran just fast enough for Inuyasha to keep her in his sights. _All that training must have really paid off if I can run faster than Inuyasha. Especially since he has improved so much as well. _They got to Sesshomaru's palace in a couple hours. Kagome ran into the courtyard just as Niiku tried to throw himself into her arms along with Shippo and Rin. "Niiku, transform and fly!"

Niiku was startled, but did as his mistress asked. Rin and Shippo stopped dead in their tracks as Kagome jumped on Niiku and went up fifty feet in the air. Inuyasha slid into the courtyard seconds later and looked around for Kagome. "Inuyasha are you still mad?"

He looked up to see Kagome in the air out of his reach. "What do you think, bitch?! Look at the knot on my head!"

Kagome squinted. It _was_ a big knot, but he had had bigger. "'Bitch?'" Inuyasha cringed and went from angry to apprehensive. Kagome just looked contemplative. "You know, I've never thought about it but isn't it a little derogatory to yourself to call me 'bitch'? I mean I _am_ human…well, mostly. Isn't that sacrilegious or something for inu youkai?"

Inuyasha looked taken aback. Since when had Kagome passed up the chance to sit him? And didn't she know that all those big words would just confuse him?

Kagome had to cover her giggles with a cough. At least now he wasn't thinking about her punch _or_ Kurama.

Inuyasha was about to speak when he felt something even harder than Kagome's fist or the subduing spell smack him into the ground. Sesshomaru spoke. "You shouldn't use that term in a derogatory fashion, even if you are a hanyou. It is a term of endearment among inu youkai. You can call Kagome that, as she will be our sister when we initiate the blood bonding ceremony. That way we will never be able to be separated even when they put the barrier between the worlds up."

"You're going to adopt me!" Kagome squealed before she noticed the rest of what he said. She motioned for Niiku to descend now that Sesshomaru was there. "What barrier? And what worlds?"

Sesshomaru turned around and started back towards the palace entrance. "We will discuss this in the library. We have a guest."

Everyone followed. Kagome carried Rin and Shippo while Inuyasha still carried her bag. She was thankful that he had had the presence of mind to grab it before he started chasing after her. Surprising.

They got to the library and Sesshomaru led the way inside Sango, Miroku, Kaede, and Jaken were already there. Rin and Shippo jumped down from Kagome's arms just before they entered. Kagome was wondering why when a bundle of baby came flying into her arms, literally. "Koenma?"

"Kagome! It's been ages. You missed my two-hundredth birthday. Did you get me a present?" The baby currently clinging to her didn't look anywhere near two hundred years old. He had a funny purple hat with 'Jr.' on it that kept slipping over his eyes and a pacifier in his mouth. (**A/N**: Picture a baby that just learned how to walk. I have no idea how Koenma ages so I'm making this up as I go along. The pacifier Kagome gave to him. It is not the one that he has in the modern era but I'm going to say that he got the idea from this one. The hat I'm just adding so that he will be recognizable. He is also going to be more childish, if that is possible. Years of responsibilities in Spirit World have mellowed him out a little. Imagine Shippo on a permanent sugar high.)

Kagome laughed. "Of course I got you a present! You reminded me enough the last time I saw you about your birthday that I couldn't have forgotten if I wanted to. Although your father will probably kill me after you get done with it." Kagome went over to Inuyasha and took her backpack from him. She pulled out a brightly wrapped package and handed it to the baby, who was currently floating in the air waiting impatiently.

Koenma grabbed the present. "Yay! Thanks Kagome!" He floated to the table and ripped into the present. "Yay, chocolate! This should last me for a while!" The entire box was full of chocolate. Yama was currently glaring at Kagome who smiled innocently.

"Look in the bottom of the box. I also got you a blanket. It has your name on it. This way, when you pass out from your sugar intake, you can cuddle up with your blanket and sleep it off." _It's a good thing that most of these children are demons. Otherwise I would probably be giving them diabetes._

Yama stood and bowed to Kagome, who went straight for a hug. Yama awkwardly patted her back before letting her go. (**A/N:** I'm going to say that he can shrink when he wants to. I know that his nose is the size of a person, but I think that a person or whatever with that much power could shrink if he wanted to. I mean, just look at Sesshomaru in his youkai form.) "It's good to see you Yama. But what are you doing here?"

Sesshomaru took his seat at his desk. "Yama will explain it to you."

Yama went back to his seat at the head of the table. "Everyone sit down. This may take awhile. For those of you that don't know, my father was a youkai and my mother was a miko. I inherited my mother's powers and my father's appearance. Koenma takes after his mother, also a miko, and my mother. I have lived for over eleven thousand years and I have seen the tensions and troubles that have developed because humans and youkai have been forced to live together. I have assembled a team of mikos and people with high amounts of holy power, even some high-ranking youkai, including Lord Sesshomaru. What I plan to do, with the help of these people, is to create two separate worlds in addition to a spirit world for souls to be processed and sent to the right place. There is already a system in place but it doesn't work as well as it could. What I propose is to bring the Underworld under Spirit World supervision. The other two worlds will be this one, for humans, or Human World, and a demon world, or Makai (**A/N**: I just like the way that sounds). A barrier will separate the human and demon worlds so that the casualties will be minimized. At this moment, I have the mikos and other people with holy powers pooling their energy into making his barrier. Sesshomaru is even donating some of his youki to be used in the barrier. The holy and youkai energy will be woven together to create an almost impenetrable net to keep the youkai in their own world. If all goes well, the barrier should go up in about fifty years."

_So this is why there seems to be next to no youkai in my time. But there are still some._ (**A/N**: Yama and Koenma do not know that Kagome is from the future. Otherwise my story wouldn't work very well.) "You said 'almost impenetrable.' What did you mean?"

Yama turned his attention exclusively on Kagome. "Lower level youkai will still be able to get through. It would only stop the strongest of the youkai. Which brings me to why I came to see you Kagome."

Kagome started. "You just came to see me?"

"Not just to see you, but that was my main reason. With the power of the Shikon Jewel, we could get the barrier up and running immediately and absolutely no youkai will be able to get through."

Sesshomaru growled. "You said nothing of this when we talked before, Yama. My future sister is the jewel's guardian and cannot leave it in the hands of others. You will not add to her responsibilities by asking this of her."

Yama turned to Sesshomaru calmly. "I believe that is her decision to make." He turned back to Kagome. "Will you help me?"

Kagome really had no choice. She had to put the jewel back into its rightful place: joined with her soul. Plus there were still youkai in her time, so she must have already said no. Now all she had to do was actually tell Yama that. "I'm afraid that I can't do that. As Sesshomaru said, I am the jewel's guardian. And I have other responsibilities as well. I won't be here very much longer as it is. I will have to go back to my country soon and I won't be able to return. So even if I wanted to help you I couldn't."

"Even if you wanted to? Does that mean that you don't want to help?"

Kagome shook her head. "It's not that. It's just that not all youkai are bad. Is it fair to punish some for actions that they had no part in? What about hanyous and the youkai with human mates? Where do they belong?"

Yama sat there calmly. "Some sacrifices have to be made."

Kagome shook her head at him. "I won't help you but I won't stop you either." She turned to Sesshomaru. "Why are you helping him? I would have thought that you would have resented this barrier more than anyone. Sure, you get away from humans, but it would also restrict your movements."

"The youkai that donate their energies to the barrier are exempt. In addition, Yama has agreed to allow me to have a portal in my domain that allows anyone of my choosing to pass between the worlds. My domain will also be separated from the other youkai territories by a barrier so I won't be bothered. It would cut down on my paperwork drastically."

_Sesshomaru and his paperwork_, thought Kagome exasperatedly.

Yama stood to leave. "My work here is done. Lady Kagome, I respect that you have valid reasons for not participating in this. I hope that we meet again, if not in your present life, then in the next."

"But, Dad, I hardly even got to play with Kagome!" Koenma whined.

"Say goodbye, Son. You will not see Kagome for a long time."

Koenma burst into tears and his father sighed. "I have some business to attend to. You may stay for a week and say your goodbyes in that time. I will return for you then."

Koenma went from tears to beaming in less than a second. "Thanks Dad. Kagome it will be just like when I was traveling with you before! Only this time, no Naraku. And no traveling, but I'm sure that this will be way more fun."

Kagome smiled. "I think that is a bit of an exaggeration. I have training for most of the day, but you can play with Shippo and Rin as much as you want. Just don't come near wherever Sesshomaru and I are training. I don't want you exposed to that kind of stuff any more than you already have been." _And I don't want any of the kids to see me die. Sesshomaru would never forgive me if I let them see that. I don't think even Rin would understand that it was part of the training. Inuyasha has a hard enough time as it is._ Sesshomaru had to ban him from the training yard for a month the first time he saw Sesshomaru kill Kagome. Inuyasha still cringed every time it happened.

"The blood bonding ceremony will take place in a few months. You may want to come back for that." Sesshomaru nodded to Yama, who nodded back. Sesshomaru respected Yama for respecting Kagome's decision without trying to bully her into changing her mind. He didn't completely understand her situation, but he still respected her enough to accept her decision.

"I think that it would be a good idea to have the adoption ceremony for Rin and Shippo at the same time. If we are going to be a family, we should all do it at the same time." Kagome pointed out.

Yama bowed to the room at large, all of whom bowed back. "I will take my leave of you now." He stared hard at his son. "A week." Then he left.

Koenma started zooming around Kagome's head. "This is going to be so much FUN!"

Kagome sighed. She felt a headache coming on. She suddenly jerked her head up.

* * *

Well, another chapter. I hope you like it. It was mostly BS completely made up by me. Again, it says that it will take fifty years for the barrier to be set up here, but it will actually take about a century. Yama miscalculated, as bureaucrats are prone to do. And he isn't a king yet, nor is Koenma a prince. Spirit World does not technically exist yet, at least not as we know it from Yu Yu Hakusho.

**Just thought that you guys deserve a chapter after waiting for so long. Although I reserve the right to take it back for editing if I need to. I may have to put this story on hold for a couple months. I'm currently taking a summer course and it is taking up more of my time than I thought. I HATE income taxes. I also have a Naruto story that I can't get out of my head. I'm going to try to work on this story more than that one, but right now I'm generating more ideas for that one than this one. After I get through with both of these, I am probably going to work on a Naruto/Inuyasha crossover with a probable Sasuke/Kagome pairing. But this is not a shameless plug; I'm just letting you guys know what is going on. Bye now.**


	21. Chapter 20

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and a few characters that I will make up later, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

**Author's Note:** Just decided to post a chapter to let you know that I haven't forgotten about this story. Sorry it's so short.

* * *

Chapter Twenty

"Kagome, tell this toddler to leave me alone! He's worse than the squirt." Inuyasha whacked said toddler on the head much in the fashion that he did with Shippo.

"Kagome, Inuyasha hit me!" Koenma flew into Kagome's arms.

Kagome sighed as she sat down for dinner and put Koenma back in his seat. _Here we go again_. It had been like this all week. She had forgotten how it was when you got Inuyasha and Koenma within shouting distance of each other. The only time she got any peace was when she was training with Sesshomaru. It was something when you had to be committing violence to get any peace. Sesshomaru refused to tolerate their antics and the first time that Koenma had run into the training yard, Kagome had yelled at him so much for disobeying her that he might have developed a permanent fear of the place. Inuyasha came to watch just to escape him. Kagome thought that he might be growing up a little; usually he would have been the one tormenting Koenma or Shippo.

_At least I haven't had to deal with any of those dreams,_ she thought, not sure whether to be disappointed or happy. She had talked to Sango about them, but Sango didn't know what to say. The only comment that she had made was that Kagome must really like this guy. And she was right. She had originally thought that he would be one of those stuck-up pretty boys that had nothing better to do than stare at themselves in the mirror but he was nothing like that. If anything, he seemed extremely embarrassed at the attention that he received whenever they were out and about. She wondered how a youkai like him had managed to have a human mother. She knew that he wasn't a hanyou, but it was still up for debate on _what_ he was. And why he had suddenly become so distant. It couldn't be because he had found out that she was a miko, not with her barrier still in place.

"KAGOME!" Koenma and Inuyasha both yelled at the same time.

Miroku winced and glared at the pair. "Shut up you two. I'm getting a headache and if you mess up my plans for later on tonight, you will not like the consequences."

Inuyasha and Koenma ignored Miroku and continued to fight. Shippo and Rin watched from the opposite side of the table. Shippo shook his head. _Is this what Inuyasha and I always looked like when we were fighting? No wonder it got on Kagome's nerves so much._

"Silence." Sesshomaru hissed as he entered the room. Inuyasha and Koenma immediately shut up. _He's even scarier than Dad._ Koenma shuddered at the thought of one hundred spankings but he would take that over having Sesshomaru mad at him any day.

Miroku grumbled. "You wouldn't do it for me, but if Mr. High-and-Mighty even looks at you wrong you jump to. I get no respect."

Sango looked at her husband and shook her head. "Maybe if you could turn into a huge dog with teeth bigger than your Shakujo and had poisonous drool, then you would get more respect. Or if you didn't go around grabbing every girl that you met on their butt all the time and asking them to bear your child. It's hard to take someone seriously that is lying on the ground twitching after I have knocked them out."

"But, Sango, my dear, I haven't done any of that since I married you!"

"No but the memory is still fresh. We haven't been married that long." She resumed eating her dinner.

"When do you think that Yama will get back?" Kagome asked. She loved seeing Koenma, but her head could only take so much abuse before exploding. She had enough to deal with from all her lessons. Luckily Kikyou had been trying to keep the butting into her thoughts to a minimum lately.

"He should be back in two days."

"When will the bonding ceremony take place and how will he know when to come back?"

"A few months. It takes much energy and power to go through the ceremony. We will be tied together for all time. Not even reincarnation will make a difference; you will still feel the pull. I will send a messenger to him when it gets close to the time."

"Kagome, why do you want to do this when you will be going to your country, never to return? What's the point?" Koenma asked.

Kagome panicked for a moment before coming up with a plausible explanation. "Because we want to be connected. Just because I won't see them in this lifetime doesn't mean that I won't in the next."

* * *

---The Present, Makai---

Kurama fell onto his bed in his suite provided by Yomi. _That_ had been an extremely stressful day. It could have gone better, but then again he could be dead now. Then he would never have a shot at a normal life with Kagome.

_If she will even consider going out with us after the cold treatment you showed her before she left. _

_I couldn't lead her on when I wasn't even sure if I was going to live through the next month._

_We still might die. This is Makai. We spent the last few years killing youkai. You think that anyone has forgotten that? We are now also in a position of power. I can think of at least one particularly ugly person who would love to have us dead._

_I never thought I'd see the day that the great Youko Kurama would willingly admit being worried._

_I am not worried. I'm cautious and someone needs to consider every possible scenario._

_I have considered everything. I just hope my plan works and that I don't have to go up against Yusuke and Hiei in order to get what I want._

Youko was quiet for a moment. _I don't think that's possible, but we will do what we have to do._

Kurama turned over to face the window. Looking out over the landscape, he thought, _Do you think what Yomi said was true? Do I feel love or do I just want to make sure that nothing jeopardizes my control over the situation? My humanity…is it just an illusion?_

Youko was silent. Kurama laid his head back on his pillow with his hands behind his head and spent the night pondering that last question. If his humanity was just an illusion, what did that mean for his future?

* * *

I had to watch the Three Kings Saga over again to get this right. I suggest you do the same if you are a little lost. The scene with Yomi and Kurama is on disc 29: Bandits and Kings. I'm hoping to just skim over the majority of the rest of the series, but I'll include bits and pieces. I also hope that future chapters will be a little lengthier.

I also noticed that Makai had been around for quite a bit longer than I have in my story. I guess you could say that this is another example of my author's prerogative. I warned you that I would change things to suit my own purposes.

Also, it's actually May that Yusuke leaves for Makai. Just wanted to let you know that I'm aware of these facts. They just slipped my mind when I did the timeline. I'm sure that I could have worked it out if I had tried, but for the purposes of this story, stick to the timeline.


	22. Chapter 21

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters or plotlines associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and the few characters that I made up and will make up, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

Chapter Twenty-One

Kagome climbed up the side of the well with a sigh. She really needed a rest. She had warned Guardian and Kikyou that there was no way that she was going to be doing anything remotely resembling training while she was at home this week. As far as she was concerned, everyone was taking a vacation. That is, if you could call studying incessantly a vacation. But compared to all that Kagome had been doing these past six months it really would be a vacation to do nothing but study and sleep for a whole week. Throw in a few of those juicy dreams about Kurama, maybe this time with her in the driver's seat, so to speak, and she would really have a great week.

_Kikyou!_

(**A/N**: Who woulda thunk it? Kikyou a pervert!)

Kagome made her way to the house and opened the door. "Mom, I'm home!"

"I'm in the kitchen, sweetheart!"

Kagome ran to the kitchen to give her mom a hug before going up to her room to change. Kurama should be over soon to start their study session. Kagome sighed. She didn't know what she was going to do about him. She didn't really know what she felt for him. It was stronger than what she had felt for Inuyasha and with a few new symptoms, too. She did know that she didn't like this new distance of his one bit. He might not want a romantic relationship with her, and she wasn't going to push for one, but he wasn't going to stop her from being his friend whether he wanted her to or not! The problem was she wasn't exactly sure how to accomplish that.

Kagome heard the doorbell ring downstairs and hopped off her bed where she had been staring off into space. "I'll get it, Mom!" She ran downstairs and flung open the door and did the first thing that came to mind. She threw her arms around his neck and said, "Hey, Kurama! I missed you!"

To say that Kurama was surprised was an understatement. He had thought that she would give him the cold shoulder after the way that he had treated her last time. That was what any typical teenage girl would have done. But Kurama was quickly figuring out that nothing about Kagome remotely resembled typical. She was emotional, impulsive, and unpredictable…and he loved every minute that he spent with her. He gave up. It was really no use trying to keep her at a distance. He could just hope that he could stop himself from getting as close to her as he wanted to, at least until this whole Demon World debacle was sorted out.

Kurama stopped in the kitchen to say hello to Mrs. Higurashi before following Kagome to her room. They proceeded with the study session, each trying to ignore the call of their respective hormones. It was considerably more friendly than the last session. After a couple of hours, Mrs. Higurashi called them down for dinner, after which Kurama got ready to leave.

Kagome saw him to the door, greatly encouraged by his friendliness that evening. "Do you want to do something tomorrow for lunch? Maybe we could go to that place at the park that we went to last time?"

Kurama sighed regretfully. "I'm afraid that I have a previous engagement that will take up most of my time this week. We could, however, go to a favorite restaurant of mine for dinner later in the week. That is, if you like Italian."

Kagome squealed. "I LOVE Italian! Fettuccini Alfredo is almost as good as oden!"

Kurama laughed. "And since this was my idea, you have to let me pay for this date."

Kagome blushed. Luckily Kurama was already turning to leave and didn't see it.

* * *

Kagome sprang up from her bed sweating profusely. The dreams had started again. Luckily she had gotten a little sleep before her sleep had been interrupted. She couldn't say that she minded them that much. They weren't unpleasant.

_They're _wonderful

_Yes, but why are they only affecting me in this time? You would think that it wouldn't matter where or when I was. It's not as if I didn't think of Kurama as incessantly in the past as I do here._

_Maybe it's just when you see him. Or maybe it's a psychic connection. You feel his presence here when you don't there._

Kagome resolved to think about it later. Maybe it was a demon thing. She'd look it up in Sesshomaru's library.

_Or you could always ask Mr. Fluffy himself._

_I don't think that would be such a good idea. I don't know much about youkai family dynamics, but I'm going to be Sesshomaru's _sister_. I don't think that he would take it kindly if I asked him about the sex dreams that I have been having about some youkai/human from my time. He would probably insist on coming through the well to kill Kurama for…well, I'm sure that Sesshomaru would come up with _some_ reason to kill Kurama._

_Does Sesshomaru _ever_ need a reason to kill anything?_

_You do have a point, which only emphasizes mine. We cannot go to Sesshomaru with this._

* * *

Kurama watched the sun rise from his balcony. He had been up since he had awoken from that dream. Again he wondered what was going on with him. At least he knew that he wasn't completely cold blooded. There was nothing cold about him whenever he was around Kagome. So, could Yomi be wrong about the other things?

There was also this merging with Youko that his other half had mentioned. Did he really want that? How could he prevent it from happening? Especially when he would need his demon powers more than ever in his dealings with Yomi. And there was still Sachi (**A/N:** Yomi's second in command. That is his name right?) to deal with.

He remembered everything that he had done as Youko. He was cruel, methodical, and would do anything to achieve his ends and get rid of anyone who stood in his way. Kurama did not want to be like that again. He _wouldn't_ revert back to who he was in the past. But parts of Youko's personality had already spilled over into him. He wanted to stop the spread before it got any further.

But how did he accomplish that?

* * *

The rest of the week followed much the same fashion. They went on their date, each secretly wishing it was a real one. The dreams kept on coming during the early hours of the morning, mainly because that was what time Kurama went to sleep. Kurama spent most of his days when he wasn't in class assisting Genkai in training his friends to present to Yomi before coming back to the city to help Kagome. Both the fighters and Kagome were progressing better than he could have hoped. He had known that his friends had the potential but they were exceeding his expectations. And Kagome…well, if she kept up the pace that she was going, she was going to give him a run for his money in the academic department, especially considering how distracted he had been in class lately. When he had told her this she had just laughed and gave him all the credit for being an excellent teacher, like she didn't have anything to do with it. When all this was over he was really going to have to work on her self-confidence.

When it was time for Kagome to leave again, the parting was better than last time. There wasn't as much of a distance between them as there had been before. Both thought that being anything more than friends was unlikely…but that didn't stop them from hoping for more, just not until all the craziness in their lives was sorted out.

* * *

This chapter was mostly filler but it served it's purpose. 


	23. Chapter 22

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters or plotlines associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and the few characters that I made up and will make up, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two

The parasite demon had been useful in keeping a good portion of his activities secret from Yomi and Sachi. Especially the visits with Kagome. Youko's voice had almost stopped appearing in his thoughts lately. He had a feeling that that wasn't a good sign. He could feel himself becoming more detached from the people around him by the day. It wasn't that he cared about them any less; he just didn't show it as much. He was even more aloof than ever. And he had no idea how to stop it. The only thing he could think to do was get matters in Makai settled as soon as possible and hope that he could come out of this with his mind in the same condition it was before this whole mess started.

* * *

---With Kagome on the other side of the well, November---

Kagome sank into the hot springs gratefully after a hard day of training in the snow with Sesshomaru. He had taken her up to the mountains to battle one of his generals who could control ice. He had somehow gotten it into his head that it would be a good idea for her to train in different types of harsh weather. While it might be beneficial at some point in the future, Kagome wasn't very happy with him at the moment and so would never admit it. Her toes were frozen solid within ten minutes and they felt like they were on fire the first few minutes in the hot springs. She felt her hair starting to melt as the steam loosened some of the ice clinging to it. She was going to kill Sesshomaru if she found out some of her hair had broken off in the battle. She may not have the best hair in the world, but she would be _damned_ before she tried to explain to her friends why she was bald. Of _course_, her grandfather would probably tell them that she had had lice and had to shave it off. Then she would have to kill him too and it would all be Sesshomaru's fault!

Kagome felt someone dunk her head underneath the water. She came up sputtering and found herself face-to-face with Sango and glared.

Sango held up her hands defensively. "Hey, I was just making sure you weren't asleep. You didn't hear me when I knocked or even when I greeted you as I came in." Sango took off her robe and settled in the water.

Kagome eyed Sango critically as she made herself comfortable. "Sango, have you put on a little weight? I think we need to get you into the training yard more often." Kagome perked up. "I would be more than happy to give you Sesshomaru for an afternoon."

Sango glared at her. "I am training often enough. The only thing I'm putting on is muscle."

"I don't know, Sango. Now that we aren't moving around all the time it would be awfully easy to get lazy."

Sango's eyebrow twitched. "I am NOT getting lazy!"

"And you have been taking a lot of naps lately." Kagome mused, totally ignoring Sango who was close to breathing fire across from her.

"I…AM…NOT…LAZY."

Kagome smiled and reached behind her to grab a box that she had bought before coming back to the past. "I don't know, Sango. Are you sure?"

"IAMNOTLAZY!!!!"

"You know, I think you're right. You're pregnant."

"KAGOME, I'M NOT LAZY. I'M…pregnant?" she whispered this last word and stared at Kagome in shock.

"I'm pretty sure that you are but I brought back a pregnancy test from back in my time. All you have to do is pee on this stick and it will tell you if you are pregnant or not."

Sango stared at Kagome, still in shock. "How can I be pregnant?"

"I'm pretty sure that was a rhetorical question. At least, I hope it was because I could have sworn that you knew all about where babies come from."

Sango snapped out of it. "OF COURSE I KNOW WHERE BABIES COME FROM! DO YOU THINK THAT I'M AS STUPID AS INUYASHA?!"

"That would be the hormones kicking in."

Sango glared. "Kagome, I'm not exactly sure what these 'hormones' are, but I know when I'm being insulted."

"I wasn't insulting you. Just stating a fact. Anyway, here is the test."

Sango took the pregnancy test in wonder after giving Kagome one last glare. She looked at it in reverence. "How can this tell if I'm pregnant or not? I know that you have some pretty amazing things in your time, but how can something this small tell if I am pregnant without magic?"

Kagome shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I think that it has something to do with a chemical reaction with some sort of hormone that you release when you are pregnant."

"That doesn't tell me anything Kagome."

Kagome glared. "Well, don't ask me. I'm the one that missed biology class because I spent so much time here. Chemistry wasn't much better because of all the math. I'm doing good to understand that much." Kagome sighed. "Just go do the damn test."

Sango shut up and did as Kagome said. "Now what?"

"We get back in the hot springs and wait. It should be ready in a few minutes."

They continued their bath, or at least tried to. Sango just sat there and stared at the test. Finally, Kagome checked her watch, got up, wrapped herself in a towel and went over to the table where they had left the test. She checked it and smiled. "Congratulations, Sango, you're going to be a mother." She heard a thump behind her and found Sango passed out a few feet away from her. Luckily she didn't hit her head on anything.

Kagome smiled. "Well, she didn't take that as well as I expected."

* * *

Later that evening, everyone got together for dinner. It was decided that the blood bonding ceremony would be held the next month. Just before everyone left the dining room, Sango stood up to make an announcement. She had tried to tell Miroku when they were alone, but he wouldn't even let her get a word out of her mouth before he attacked her. Needless to say, neither of them said anything intelligible for a while. And then they were late to dinner and Sesshomaru had glared at Miroku for disrupting his schedule. If Miroku couldn't keep his hands to himself long enough for her to tell him that he was going to be a father then he could just find out with the rest of the family! And she did see them all as her family, even Sesshomaru who was like some sort of tyrannical patriarch.

"Everyone?" They all turned to look at her questioningly. "I'm pregnant." Miroku spewed his drink across the table and all over Inuyasha, who just sat there for a moment before swearing a blue streak.

Kagome sat back and smiled. "Wow, Sango, I knew you weren't much for big speeches, but that was ridiculous. You almost gave Miroku a heart attack." She glanced at Inuyasha. "And Inuyasha still might make you a widow." She heard a thump and looked at Miroku lying on the floor with a bump on his head. But not because Inuyasha had hit him. Miroku had fainted and hit his head on the edge of the table.

Kagome shook her head. "Now, from him, this is _exactly_ what I expected."

* * *

Well, Sango's pregnant. Kagome's time in the past is now limited. And the blood bonding ceremony. What kind of name is that anyway? But that is what I started out calling it so I guess I'll just deal with it. But it still sounds stupid. 


	24. Chapter 23

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters or plotlines associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and the few characters that I made up and will make up, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

**Author's Note: **I was going to wait a few more days to update but then I said, "What the hell," and decided to update anyway. I want more reviews to read and the reviews from my other story have seemed to stop for now.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Three

---December, two days before the ceremony---

Kohaku had seemed slightly more happy with the news of Sango's pregnancy, but still refused to come out of his room where he had stayed since coming to Sesshomaru's palace. Sango was getting more and more depressed each day. She couldn't even hide it with the way her hormones were out of balance. She was laughing one minute and crying the next and she couldn't seem to get the mess with Kohaku out of her mind. He still blamed himself for the deaths of their friends and family, no matter how often Sango tried to convince him that it wasn't his fault. He refused to even look at Kagome because of the time that he had almost killed her. Kagome knew how he felt. She was the one responsible for his predicament, at least that was how she felt about it. She had brought the jewel back to this era and all of the mayhem that Naraku had caused because of it was her fault. When she told Sango this, Sango pointed out that it wasn't really her fault (of course, that was after she hit her over the head with Hiraikotsu for being so stupid as to even _suggest_ such a thing). Mistress Centipede was the one that had dragged her to this era and it certainly wasn't her fault that she didn't know how to handle youkai. After all, she had never encountered one before coming to the Feudal Era. She hadn't understood anything that was going on and couldn't have known what would happen when she shot that arrow. Nothing that had happened was her fault. Naraku had set all of the events in motion and he was the one that should bare all the blame. HE killed Kikyou and caused the rift between her and Inuyasha, which, in turn, was how the jewel had gotten into Kagome's body in the first place. HE caused Sango's fellow exterminators' deaths. HE was responsible for everything.

After this conversation was when Kagome got her idea. She talked it over with Kikyou and she agreed. It was the best thing to do for all of them.

Kagome made her way up to Kohaku's room. She really hoped that she didn't have to play her trump card, but desperate times call for disparate measures. She knocked and was told by Kohaku in the emotionless voice that he had adopted to come in.

Kohaku looked up and was surprised to see Kagome there before averting his eyes from hers. _How can she even stand to look at me?_

Kagome smiled at him. "Kohaku, I would like for you to come down to dinner. I have something to discuss with the whole family and I can't do that when my little brother is sitting up here all by his self."

Kohaku gaped at Kagome for a moment, forgetting his aversion to looking her in the eye. "You consider me your little brother? After all I've done, to you and to my own family?"

A shadow came over Kagome's face and Kohaku's face flushed with shame and his eyes sank to the floor. He had known that it was too good to be true. He was surprised when she sat on the bed and pulled him down to sit beside her.

"Kohaku. Nothing that happened was your fault. Naraku is the one that should be blamed for everything that happened. He was the one that caused all those deaths and everyone's pain and suffering. He was the one that made you try to kill me, which I would like to remind you that you didn't. It takes a strong person to resist Naraku when they are in so much pain."

"It doesn't matter that Naraku was making me do those things. I was still the one that did them. I should have been strong enough to resist him and that spider youkai and protect my family. I should have been strong enough-"

"If anyone is to be shouldering the blame, it is me. I'm the one that shattered the jewel and caused Naraku to kill in the search of it. Do you know how many people died because of his obsession with the jewel? Too many. I bare the blame for everything that Naraku has done in his search for the jewel."

Kohaku looked up into Kagome's face and tried to comfort her. "Sango told me most of what happened. You had no idea what was going to happen when you shot that arrow. Naraku is the one that caused all the trouble that you went through. You didn't even know about youkai when you came here. Although I can't really imagine living in a world without youkai."

Kagome smiled. "Sango said virtually the same thing. And you should take your own advice and place the blame where it belongs: with Naraku. If I am not responsible for Naraku's actions then neither are you."

Kohaku looked at Kagome in wonder. How did she manage to put it in such a way that it would be like he blamed her for everything if he continued to blame himself? He still carried the guilt but it wasn't as bad as before. "But I still should have protected-"

Kagome covered his mouth with one hand. "And I should have known exactly what to do with Mistress Centipede and that crow youkai. It was the first time you had been on a mission, Kohaku. In no way could you have expected to come out on top with Naraku in the mix. It took us three years to defeat him. Do you think that you could have on your first mission? You don't need to be so hard on yourself."

Kohaku stared into his lap for a moment before looking up at Kagome. "Okay, I will try to stop blaming myself if you stop blaming yourself. And I will come down to dinner tonight."

Kagome squealed and attacked Kohaku in much the fashion that she did Sota. She hugged him really tightly, then grabbed him and pulled him down the stairs, chattering all the way about how happy Sango would be to see him out of his room and about how now they might be able to get through a meal without her blubbering every two seconds.

_Good job, Kagome._

_Thanks, Kikyou._

Kagome and Kohaku made their way to the dining room and saw that everyone was waiting impatiently for Kagome. Kagome was just about to enter the room when she saw Jaken run up to Sesshomaru. "My Lord Sesshomaru, she is nowhere to be found. Neither I nor any of the servants could find her anywhere." Jaken cowered and waited for the blow that he knew would be delivered shortly.

"So you failed." Sesshomaru said in his cold voice.

"Yes, my lord." Jaken threw himself on the ground wailing. "I am a worthless excuse for a servant! I couldn't even find one girl! You can kill me now, my lord, as I am of no further use to you!"

"Now, Jaken, aren't you being a little hard on yourself? I'm a hard girl to find. You can't sense me or even smell me. Even Sesshomaru has a hard time finding me when I don't want to be found." Kagome said as she walked into the room.

Sesshomaru dropped his cold mask and glared at her. "You are late."

Kagome shrugged. "I had other business to attend to." She turned around to direct Kohaku to his seat and found that he wasn't there. She looked back at the doorway and saw him peaking from behind the door. She rolled her eyes at him and went back to drag him in with her.

Sango gasped when she saw Kohaku actually out of his room. Then she burst into tears and rushed to hug him. "I'm so glad you're here!" Sango wailed.

Kagome rolled her eyes again. She looked at the rest of the group. "Hormones."

Everyone at the table nodded sagely, even though none of them had the slightest clue as to what she was talking about.

Sango finally pulled herself together and sat down. "How did you get him to come down Kagome?"

Kagome shrugged. "I just explained to him that I had something to discuss with the family, so I needed him present tonight."

Sango looked back and forth between them suspiciously. She knew that there was more to the story but she decided to drop it. Whatever had happened was between Kohaku and Kagome. She was just glad that Kagome had managed to get him to come out of his room.

Everyone ate dinner. There was the usual banter between all of them. Kohaku was still a little uncomfortable, but Kagome knew that he would get used to them in time. He laughed when Shippo and Inuyasha got into it and Inuyasha started to chase Shippo around the table. Sango caught Kagome's eye and mouthed a silent "_Thank you_."

Kagome smiled. "_You're welcome_." She mouthed back.

Dinner was soon finished and Sesshomaru growled to get everyone's attention. "Yama and Koenma will be here in a couple of days for the ceremony. This Sesshomaru-" he ignored the growl coming from Kagome at his use of the third person again "-has decided that the rest of you will also become part of my family. Not by the same method as Kagome will for reasons of her youkai souls, but you will still be a part of my family and as such under my protection and governance. You will live near me so that I can properly keep an eye on you and your descendants."

The rest of the group stared blankly at Sesshomaru, not believing that he would take so many humans under his protection. Kagome they could understand, but the rest of them?

Kagome was the first to reason it out in her head. _Well this certainly makes things a lot easier._ "So, you want to make sure they have to listen to you and do as you say, don't you Sesshomaru? The fact that they aren't really under your command irritates you doesn't it? Miroku is sure a lot to take, so I understand your reasoning."

Miroku drew up indignantly. "Hey! What about _me_ is so bad?"

Inuyasha snorted. "Do you want the highlights or the complete list? Either way we will be here for a while."

Miroku huffed. "I get no respect. I am a holy servant of Buddha-"

Everyone bickered for a while, but it was understood that everyone agreed to go through with it. Kohoku was overwhelmed. None of these people seemed to care that he had been Naraku's servant and had tried to kill them multiple times. They accepted him as one of them without any effort on his part. They really were like a family.

"Enough of this! Miroku, when you start acting like a 'holy servant of Buddha' we _might_ start treating you like one. But I have something serious to discuss." Everyone quieted down and looked at her expectantly. "I spent a long time thinking about what I will wish for when the time comes. At first, one of my wishes was going to be that all the evil caused by the jewel was undone, but today I came across an even better wish. I thought about it and the wish I was going to make probably wouldn't have done anything because the jewel isn't really evil by itself. It was the evil in the beings that held and sought the jewel that caused all the terrible things to happen. However, Naraku has caused so much pain to so many people. I think one of the wishes should be that all the evil that Naraku had done, all the good people he has killed…I think the wish should be to undo that. Naraku caused so much death and destruction. The most good would be done reversing his deeds. That would take away Kohaku and Sango's guilt for not protecting their family and fellow exterminators. They would get their father back and maybe rebuild the village. Kami knows what other evil it would undo. My other wishes I need your input on. One wish is going to be for Inuyasha to be able to control his transformations and be able to keep his mind in the process. The other is the one that I really need your permission to wish for. I won't do it if you don't agree." Kagome took a deep breath before continuing. "I would like for us to all be able to recognize each other and remember our lives together, even when we are reincarnated after I get back to the future. I understand if you want to be able to make a fresh start, but I would like to always remember my time here and the people I love."

Sango and Kohaku were in shock. The rest of the group were surprised that Kagome had this so well thought out, but were not surprised that she had taken such care with her wishes. She always thought of others before herself. The last wish was the only thing that she asked for and that was as much for the rest of them as it was for her. There was really no question in anyone's mind but Kagome's that everyone would agree.

"You don't have to answer right away. I want you to think about it before giving me your answers." Kagome paused and looked at Sesshomaru. "You asked me why I was being selfish for waiting to make my wishes. This is one of the reasons why. I figured that the exterminators would be brought back when the evil caused by the jewel was undone. I know that Sango and Kohaku would love to see their family as soon as possible. And I am willing to make my wishes after the ceremony if they wish for me to. I was selfish for not telling them of my intentions sooner. I just wanted to spend a little more time with all of you before I had to go back to my time for good. I-OWWW!" Kagome finished with a yell.

Sango glared at Kagome and shook her hand to get the feeling back into it. "You promised that you would stay until after my first child was born. Do you think that I will let you leave me to suffer on my own? You have to be there to help me. I miss my family but I will get to spend the rest of my life with them. You I will not see for five hundred years! You are like a sister to me. I can't do this without you!" Sango finished this with a wail and threw herself at Miroku's chest sobbing.

Kagome rushed over to Sango's side and rubbed her back. "Of course I'll stay if you want me to! I was just afraid that you would want me to go ahead and make them so that you and Kohaku could see your father again." Kagome turned back to Sesshomaru. "I think you have some ideas as to what my conditions to taking Rin with me are."

Sesshomaru was hiding behind his emotionless mask. He had an idea but he wasn't going to say anything until she confirmed it. "Enlighten me."

"When the exterminators come back, I want you to have them rebuild their village here and keep them under your protection. It will help them understand that not all youkai are evil and will lessen the animosity between humans and youkai, at least in your domain. It will also keep you from loosing touch with family and keep you from turning back into that stuffy snob that you used to be…Well, still are, but that is beside the point." Sesshomaru growled. "Well, it's true. Why, if it wasn't just family here, I couldn't do this." Kagome walked up to Sesshomaru and plopped down in his lap and started petting his mokomoko (**A/N:** the fluffy littly boa thing on his shoulder). Sesshomaru growled at her but allowed it. Kagome just ignored him and set about getting more comfortable. Niiku hopped up onto her lap and curled up to go to sleep.

"Kagome go to sleep. You too Inuyasha, Rin, and Shippo. The others are just being adopted into this family formally, not by blood. It takes a lot of energy regardless, but it will take the most out of the ones sharing blood. Kagome, you will be excused from training these next two days so that you may conserve your energy. I expect you to not leave your room at all unless it is to go to the garden to relax or for meals. The same goes for the rest of you." Sesshomaru stopped to stare at Sango. "Since you are expecting a pup you will also be require to rest. It will take a lot of energy out of you also considering your condition. Furthermore-"

Kagome was overjoyed to be let out of training but she was also really tired from all the training earlier that day. She yawned and tuned out the rest of Sesshomaru's lecture of all they could not do over the next two days. For someone who hadn't seemed to know how to say more than two sentences at a time that were not insults before she had really got to know him, he sure could lecture. She snuggled deeper into his fluffy boa thing. Soon she was asleep.

Sesshomaru finished his lecture and was about to tell Kagome to go to bed when Inuyasha pointed at her. She was sound asleep with a death grip on his mokomoko. He sighed. There was no help for it. He scooped her up in his arms, fire cat and all, and carried her upstairs to his room. He knew he had no chance of getting away from her with the grip that she had on him. And Kagome didn't like to be woken up, dispite the fact that she didn't get much actual sleep even when she was technically asleep. Or maybe that was the reason. She wanted to get as much sleep as she could. Even he hesitated when it came to waking her up. It was better just to let her do so on her own. She didn't really sleep in anyway. She was up at the time he wanted to train most of the time. He really didn't want a repeat of that night he had woken her when she had just come back to the past. Sesshomaru shuddered. There wasn't much that could give him pause, but Kagome was a hundred times stronger when she was mad and even stronger when she wasn't aware of anything. She had punched him and broken his nose when he had tried to wake her. Then she just rolled over and went back to sleep as if nothing had happened. She didn't even realize that she was the one who had caused his injury when she saw it the next morning. Inuyasha had gotten sat into a rather large crater because of it. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't tried to tell her that it was actually her that caused the injury. So there was no way he was even going to try to wake her up. He settled down on his big bed, resigned to having to sleep in his regular clothes. His last thought before going to sleep was that he was glad that he wasn't wearing his armour.

* * *

After Kohaku heard about Kagome's intended wish, it was like he was a totally different person. He went out everyday and played with Shippo, Rin, Kirara, and sometimes Niiku, who still didn't really like letting Kagome out of his sight even when she had to go home. Everyone agreed with Kagome and Sesshomaru's plans for the exterminator village and the ceremony. Now all that was left was for Yama and Koenma to get there so the ceremony could go through as planned.

* * *

---The ceremony---

Yama and Koenma had gotten there earlier that morning. Now everyone at the palace was gathered in the dining hall, which was really the only place big enough to have it. Many other taiyoukai had shown up out of respect to Sesshomaru, even if he was adopting humans into his family. They didn't like it, but most were too afraid of Sesshomaru to say anything about it. One hadn't been and everyone was reminded of why they were so afraid of him in the first place. Then they actually met Kagome and felt her miko power, which Sesshomaru told her to show to warn any who thought that she was weak. They showed her a lot more respect after that, mainly out of fear of being purified.

Yama was using this as an opportunity to gather more youki for his barrier. Many of the lords there didn't really care one way or another about humans; they just saw them as being beneath them. It would take some of the disorder out of their lives if they didn't have to deal with human wars and trespassers. It was a lot easier than killing them all. They multiplied like rabbits and had the nasty habit of fighting back.

Kagome stood by Sesshomaru's side as they greeted the last of their guests. "I didn't know that there would be so many youkai here."

Sesshomaru gazed across the hall. "I hadn't anticipated that they would come. Evidently they fear me more than I realized. I just wrote to inform them of my intention to adopt you and take the others under my protection and they all took that as an invitation. I expected some to come, particularly Lord Hakurama." He pointed to a gorgeous black-haired kitsune youkai. "I thought you might want to talk to him about the kit. I had also planned on getting him to spar with you a little while he was here. Though not for a few days. This ceremony with leave you exhausted."

"What about you?"

"I will, of course, be unaffected."

"Is that right?"

"It won't be as much of a shock to my body. I expect that you will have more control over your various youkai abilities after this. Inuyasha, I expect, will be the least affected, because he has both human and youkai blood. I expect that the kit, Inuyasha, and I will not be affected very much by your blood. It may protect us from purification, but as there has never been a case of a youkai adopting a miko into his family it is uncertain."

Kagome was glad that she would finally be able to use her enhanced senses. She had tried various times in the past and had always ended up nauseous with a migraine.

When the time came to start the ceremony, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippo, and Rin made their way to the front of the room while Sango, Miroku, Kohaku, and Kaede stayed to the side. Their part would not come until later.

(((**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Okay people, be prepared for lameness! I got tired of staring at the computer screen, trying to figure out a cool way to write this scene with the ceremony and I can't think of anything so I just wrote the first thing that came to my mind. It was either that or just skip to the end and that didn't seem right. This is going to be stupid and rushed because I don't want to have to spend any more time on it than I have to. You have no idea how much trouble this one little scene has given me.)))

Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and Kagome gathered at the alter, around a large bowl, the children off to the side. First Kagome would be adopted into the family and Inuyasha would be formally recognized, then the children would be adopted by Kagome. Finally, Sesshomaru would make sure that all realized that the rest of the group was under his protection and considered part of his family.

Sesshomaru took out a dagger made from the fang of his great-great-great-great-great grandfather that had the crest of his family on it. The crest was the same as the crescent moon mark on Sesshomaru's forehead. It had been passed down to the head of the family for generations. The dagger had been a smaller part of his inheritance from his father. Or it could have been the most important part, depending on how you looked at it. At first, he had been apathetic toward being the head of the family. After all, who wants to be the head of a family when there are no other members other than a half-brother that you regard as a disgrace? But now his title was going to have meaning because he was going to have a family, even if most of them _were_ human.

Sesshomaru made a rather large incision on his wrist and allowed his blood to flow into the bowl. He then did the same to Inuyasha and Kagome. "Our combined blood symbolizes that we are a part of each other." The blood kept flowing until it filled the bowl. The blood glowed a mixture of yellow, red, and pink and pulsed with power. A wind picked up around them, whipping their hair around them. The cuts started to pulse as well, their blood calling to be combined with the others. As one, they submerged their cuts in the bowl and immediately felt the power of the others rush into them. The blood gathered in the bowl flowed into their cuts. Each of their eyes glowed brightly and the wind pushed their hair above their heads. Kagome and Inuyasha both felt a searing pain in their head in the center of their forehead. As the blood emptied the bowl, the wind stopped and Inuyasha went to his knees and Kagome sank to her knees, trying to deal with all the confusion between her youkai and miko souls. Sesshomaru's voice was a little unsteady as he said, "As head of the Great Inu Taiyoukai Clan, I formally accept you both into my family."

Kagome's barrier that was keeping her youkai abilities in check broke. Suddenly she could smell the fresh blood left over from the ceremony and she could tell where each of her friends was located by their smell alone. She heard Kohaku whisper to Sango, wondering if Kagome was alright. Miroku asked Kaede if she thought that they would get a crescent moon on their foreheads just like Kagome and Inuyasha. Her hand flew to her forehead, but it didn't feel any different. She looked up and noticed that her eyesight was sharper too. She made herself stand up, leaning against the alter.

Sesshomaru then motioned for Rin, and Shippo to join Kagome at the alter. Sesshomaru handed Kagome the dagger. Kagome shifted upright with effort. The other ceremony had really taken a lot of her energy. Kagome made a small cut on the palm of her hand. Sesshomaru had instructed her earlier on how to conduct the adoption. She then made small incisions on both Shippo and Rin's hands. She hated to hurt them, but it had to be done. She squeezed the hand that she had cut so that blood dripped into both of the children's cuts. "I give you my blood so that we may always be connected. I, Kagome of the Great Inu Taiyoukai Clan, formally adopt Shippo and Rin. From this day forth, they will forever be my children." As she said these words, Shippo's cut glowed a mixture of pink and green and Rin's cut glowed a mixture of pink and blue. Kagome then took their cut hands, the glow increasing by the second. There was a flash of their combined energy and when it was gone the cuts were healed with only a slight scar remaining. They too had crescent moons on their foreheads. Both children sat down beside the alter, exhausted.

Sesshomaru instructed the rest of the group to join them. No blood was required to be spilt for this ceremony, but it would still be draining to all of the participants. Sesshomaru began to glow yellow and his eyes flashed red. Shortly afterward, Kagome (pink) and Inuyasha (red) followed suit, glowing brightly. Rin and Shippo glowed softly; much of their energy had already been drained. Sango panicked slightly when she saw that she was glowing red with pink on her stomach. She had never felt the baby move before but now he or she was going crazy. She hoped that this would not hurt the baby, though Kaede and Sesshomaru saw no reason why it would. Miroku was glowing purple, Kohaku, a blue-green, and Kaede, indigo.

Suddenly, Kagome walked over to Sango's side and placed her hand on Sango's gently rounded stomach. The pink glow receded as Kagome glowed brighter. The baby quieted down, much to Sango's relief and puzzlement. Sango resolved to ask her about it later.

"Let all bare witness. I accept these people into my family and as such they are under my protection. None shall harm one or they will feel the combined wrath of the Inu Clan." There was one bright pulse of light before they all went back to normal. Kagome almost passed out and everyone else was a little wobbly.

Sesshomaru walked over to Kagome and lifted her into his arms. He strode toward the doors, stopping briefly beside Lord Hakurama. "We will discuss a training schedule later. When she has rested." He then left the hall to put Kagome to bed.

* * *

Wow, big chapter. Thank God that is over! Although it did turn out better than I expected. I know that I said that I was trying to keep the number of new characters to a minimum, but Lord Hakurama will probably only be in the story for a short time. I'm not even sure that I will put any parts with him actually in the story. I don't intend for him to play a major part, but, who knows, that may change. Well, still lots of other chapters to write. Let me know what you think!

(**P.S.** I almost forgot: **Thank you reviewers!**)

**P.S.S.** Could someone please write another summary for this story and send it to me? I can't seem to come up with a good one. **Please?**


	25. Chapter 24

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters or plotlines associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and the few characters that I made up and will make up, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

**WARNING:** Not quite a lemon, but there is some definitely citrusy material towards the end of this chapter. Could someone tell me what a lime is? This could be one, but I'm not entirely sure what that entails so I can't be sure.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sesshomaru's predictions of the side effects of the ceremony were pretty much accurate with the exception of Inuyasha. Sesshomaru had only guessed about the effects of Kagome's miko blood. He didn't think about what effect his own blood would have. When he had formally acknowledged Inuyasha and shared his blood with him, he had given him more than just acceptance. Inuyasha gained some of Sesshomaru's abilities as well. He was afraid that trying to turn into his youkai form would unleash his still hard to control youkai blood, but he could use poisoned claws, which made his Sankon Tesso more effective, and could form a red whip much like Sesshomaru's. He planned to try to transform after Kagome made her wish so that he wasn't a danger to anyone.

Sesshomaru was the one that was the least effected. Kagome had given him a little jab with her wooden sword with a small amount of miko power in it and he wasn't bothered even slightly by it. He didn't feel anything but the blow. So it seemed that he had been correct in his prediction about being immune to purification. She tried it on Inuyasha too and it seemed to work because all Inuyasha did was chase her around for poking him. He later said that he didn't feel anything other than the jab. He hadn't noticed anything else.

The others didn't seem to have any side effects other than the crescent mark on their foreheads, which they could hide whenever they wanted to. When Sango got around to asking Kagome why she had done what she did during the ceremony, Kagome couldn't give her an answer. Something had just told her to. Her legs must have moved on their own. She hadn't even been aware that she had moved.

Kagome's youkai blood now enabled her to control her youkai senses. It also seemed to improve her agility and speed. She was now almost as fast as Sesshomaru. Her new abilities seemed to give her just the advantage she needed in her training. She could now last throughout her training sessions with Sesshomaru without getting killed or beaten. She had even beaten Sesshomaru once! She was really proud of that. She started training with Lord Hakurama in order to get practice fighting different types of youkai. He dealt mainly with illusions and had some control over plants. He taught her how to see through illusions and to always be aware of her surroundings (in addition to giving her some pointers on raising a mischievous youkai kit). Even the smallest plant could be used to trap her if she wasn't on her guard; its vines coming up to wrap around her ankles, trapping her. He also showed her a death tree, which she was surprised to recognize as the little tree in her garden disguised as a normal bush. She told him about it and he was amazed. Apparently death trees didn't like anyone. The only explanation that he could think of was a cross species that she had in her country that hadn't made it's way there yet.

Other youkai lords stayed as well, hoping to see why Sesshomaru chose to take these _humans_ into his family. Several of them volunteered to help with her training and to teach her a few things. They soon saw what everyone else saw if they spent any amount of time around Kagome. She viewed you as an individual and didn't condemn you for what had happened in your past. She was quite unusual. Mikos are sworn to kill all youkai, any time they cross paths. She won over some of the most cold-hearted and ruthless youkai in the world and she did it with almost no effort. A youkai could have teeth and claws a foot long and she would still yell at you if you made a rude comment. It didn't matter to her. You piss her off and she's going to tell you about it. Most of these youkai lords had never had that happen to them before.

Soon it was time for her trip back home. She woke up early that morning feeling kind of unusual. She was strangely aware of the silky material of her sheets gliding across her skin. She almost didn't want to get out of bed. She had trouble figuring out what she wanted to wear as she stood before her wardrobe and ran her hands against the fabric of her many kimonos and miko clothing. Well, she knew what she _wanted _to wear. But she knew that she had to wear her normal miko clothing. A formal silk kimono would be kinda hard to explain when she was showing up in the middle of the day after traveling home. She said her goodbyes to the youkai lords still in residence, most would be leaving before she got back. Before she jumped through the well she made sure her crescent moon was hidden. Didn't want to have to answer questions about where _that _came from. She would tell her family, but there was no telling who else could be at the shrine.

* * *

Kurama made his way up the steps of the Higurashi Shrine. He didn't know why he was already here even though he knew that Kagome probably wouldn't be back yet. Maybe it was because it was so peaceful here. It was the only place that he felt calm, no longer at war with his self. The Goshinboku was amazingly soothing to both his and Youko's souls. It was too old for words; not even he could communicate with it. He imagined that it was here long before humans evolved into their current form, even though he knew that was impossible.

He finally made it to the top of the steps and looked around. No one seemed to be home, but Mrs. Higurashi was probably in the kitchen. He stopped by the Goshinboku to take in its calming presence for a moment and let the wind whip his hair around him. He closed his eyes and could almost feel the tree whispering to him. So engrossed was he that he didn't see the muted blue light from the wellhouse.

* * *

Kagome peeked from the door of the wellhouse, momentarily forgeting her new senses. Seeing no one, she opened the door to go to the main house but almost immediately saw Kurama. Immediately her blood started rushing through her veins and she felt heated. Liquid pooled and she felt a pang in her stomack area. _What's going on? I feel like I will die if I don't go jump him right now. I have to get away from him!_ She rushed to the door as fast as she could and made it without attracting Kurama's attention. She was so fast that her mother only felt a sudden wind as she passed. Mrs. Higurashi turned to look at the door and saw that it was open and wondered how that had happened. She heard a door slam upstairs and knew that Kagome must be home. Sota was spending the night with a friend. _I wonder why Kagome went to her room without saying hello_. She shrugged, figuring that Kagome must have had to use the bathroom. But she could have at least told her mother hello.

Kagome was up in her room wondering what was happening to her. She hadn't felt this fevered even in her dreams. Even the rub of her clothes was starting to bother her. She really wanted to be naked now, but first she had to get rid of Kurama.

Kagome heard him knock on the door to the kitchen. Her mother greeted him and she knew that she had to keep him downstairs. She immediately went to confront him.

Kurama was surprised to find out that Kagome was, in fact, home. He hadn't expected her this soon.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Kurama." Kagome walked into the kitchen and had to fight the sensations again. If it hadn't been for all that training in control from Sesshomaru, she was sure that she wouldn't have been able to act even halfway normal.

Kurama looked at Kagome and blushed at the way that she was looking at him, but then he blinked and the look was gone, leaving him to wonder if he had imagined it. He felt himself becoming aroused which seemed to be a permanent condition when he was around Kagome.

Kagome opened her mouth to tell him that she really didn't feel like studying today, but then she had a revelation. She looked at him sharply and discreatly sniffed the air again and had to grab the counter for support.

Her mother rushed over to her. "Kagome are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened? Wha-"

Kagome interrupted her. "Mom, I'm fine. I just lost my balance for a moment."

Mrs. Higurashi looked at her daughter, trying to see if she was lieing. She seemed to be fine with no visible injuries, but with Kagome you could never tell. She left her alone when she saw no pain in her eyes, only slight surprise.

Kurama was still concerned considering her health. "Kagome, if you do not feel well, we can postpone the study session until you feel better. You can't afford to risk your health."

Kagome started to say that that was a good idea but paused, still surprised. He desired her. She could smell it as soon as he saw her. He didn't have this scent on him before so it had to be because of her. So why hadn't he at least asked her out? Had she given him any encouragement? She thought for a moment. No, she hadn't because she hadn't thought that he was interested in her so she decided not to push. Maybe the Inuyasha situation had affected her confidence more than she had realized. Should she take a chance on Kurama? She felt the strangely heightened desire flow through her with even greater force. Evidentially her body was going to make her decision for her.

"No, I'm fine. Let's just go up to my room and get started." Kagome did her best to sound normal, but was afraid that her voice came out more seductively than she had intended in front of her mother.

Mrs. Higurashi took off her apron and got her purse. "If you kids don't mind, I have to go to the grocery store and pick up a few things. I should be back in an hour or two. If you get hungry, there should be some snacks in the cabinets." She waved goodbye and left.

Kagome whispered a silent thanks to God. She didn't really want to attempt to seduce Kurama with her mother downstairs. It would have been awkward.

Kurama's eyes were playing tricks on him again. Kagome's eyes seemed to be glowing and she had that _look_ in her eyes again before she turned to go upstairs. It _had_ to be his imagination. He didn't sense anything from her and she gave no indication of being anything other than she appeared. Human eyes did not glow pinkish-red like that.

Kagome and Kurama sat down at her desk, with Kagome in the seat closest to the door, unconciously cutting off his means of escape. She could feel her instincts begin to take over and her body seemed to be doing things that she wasn't telling it to do. She hadn't the slightest idea how to go about seducing someone. But it seemed to be instinctive. Kurama started his lesson at where they had left off last time and Kagome took advantage of every opportunity that presented itself. She sat closer to him than she normally did and breathed in his scent deeply. She wanted to just sink into him, but she didn't want to be _that_ obvious. She touched him whenever possible and leaned against him so that her breasts were touching his arm, trying to make it seem like she wasn't even aware of what she was doing. She almost moaned when she smelled the answering spike in his arousal every time she touched him. Why didn't he make a move? She wasn't sure that she could take much more of this. Kami, this guy was dense! She decided to take a more direct approach and rested her hand on his thigh; she was getting despirate.

Kurama couldn't take it anymore. It was almost as if Kagome was trying to seduce him. But that _couldn't_ be right because he still couldn't smell her arousal. Youko was screaming inside his head to just take her. He was past the point of reason and morals. Kurama had reached his breaking point too. One more touch and he was sure that he would go over the edge. He got up. "I'm sorry, Kagome. I have just remembered an urgent appointment that I must go to. I will be back early tomorrow to finish the lesson. Maybe then we could study in the kitchen or the living room? We would have more room to spread out in there. Or we could even go to the library!" _So that I won't have a chance to jump you._

Kagome wanted to scream. What was it with this guy? Did she have to have a neon sign flashing above her head to get him to take action? _That's it! I'm going to jump him before he gets out the door. _

Kagome stood up too. Kurama made to go around her, but her hand accidentilly brushed against his front, unfortunately right across the source of his discomfort. Kurama let out a low hiss and snapped. He grabbed her wrists and backed her against the wall a little more roughly than he intended. He lifted her up and her legs went around his waist. And then came the kiss.

_Yessssss!_ Kagome's inner voice (Kikyou) hissed in her mind. Kagome kissed him back with equal fervor. Then Kurama ground his hips, rubbing the source of their respective desires together. He kept on moving, harder and faster. It was all Kagome could do just to hold on for the ride of her life. It was soooooo much better than any of her previous dreams! The feelings were more intense and her senses could soak in every part of the experience. Kurama's lips moved to her neck and sucked. He barely refrained from sinking his teeth into the tender flesh of her neck, insuring that no other would dare trespass on what he considered his. Kurama's eyes had a red glow in them and they were both so wrapped up in the intense sensations that they didn't notice that both of their eyes had that same glow in them that seemed to get brighter with each stroke of Kurama's hips.

Kurama's teeth grazed Kagome's ear and she exploded while at the same time she wrapped her hands in Kurama's long hair, right where his ears would be if he was in his youkai form. He joined her in ecstasy and his head sank to rest between her breasts.

Once the spasms had ended, Kurama slowly lifted his head to look up into Kagome's eyes. She looked dazed and slightly confused. What had he done? Was he going crazy? Were his youkai senses failing him? Nothing made sense. She had seemed to want him earlier, but she still didn't smell as she should have after what they had been doing. He could have sworn that she had felt the same pleasure he did. Could his mind have been playing tricks on him and made him only think that she returned his feelings? Was Youko trying to manipulate him somehow? He didn't know the answers to any of these questions but he knew that Kagome deserved better than what he had just put her through.

Kagome was wondering what had gotten into her. She didn't act like this. Sure it was nice for a change to just throw caution to the wind and do what her body wanted, but this was a little extreme. They hadn't even been on a real date as a couple. Sure they had gone out as friends, but they hadn't said how they feel about each other. She wasn't even sure what she felt for him. She just knew that she had never felt this way about anyone before.

Kurama slowly rose, unpinning Kagome from against the wall as he did. His bangs shielded his eyes from her so she didn't have a clue what he might be thinking. "I am sorry for my lack of control, Kagome. I think that it would be best if I didn't continue tutoring you. I'm going to be leaving the country for an indefinite amount of time next month so this would have been the last week anyway." He turned his back on her and left, pausing at the door where he seemed to sniff the air one more time before leaving.

Kagome sniffed experimentally and was hit with the scent of what they had been doing. But she suddenly realized that something was missing. Kurama couldn't smell her! THAT was why he never made a move on her and why he was so clueless when she was trying to seduce him. Wait, SHE had tried to seduce him! What was happening to her? She felt the earlier sensations build up the longer she stayed in the room. It smelled so strongly of Kurama that she wanted to hunt him down and finish what she started. _NO! This is not me. I do not act out just any desire that pops into my head! What is wrong with me?_

Kagome couldn't take being in her room any longer and she didn't trust herself to stay away from Kurama if she stayed in this era. She quickly wrote her mother a note explaining that she had to go back to the feudal era, but she would be back soon if she could. She then ran as fast as she could and jumped into the well. Once on the other side, she ran all the way to Sesshomaru's without pausing. She jumped the three story distance to her window and locked it. She then ran to the door and locked it as well.

She would not leave her room until she was back to normal.

* * *

I have had this scene in my head for a long time. Let me tell you that it was better in my head than it is in the story. I can come up with a really good scene but then I can't figure out how to describe it and put it into words. If I could, I would be a real author, not just writing fanfiction. But the sad fact is that I can't express my thoughts very well. Another reason why I am hating my public speaking class that I am currently being forced to take this semester. And, as always…THANK YOU REVIEWERS! 


	26. Chapter 25

**Decisions**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho or any characters or plotlines associated with either show. Let's put it this way: If the characters, situations, or storylines are recognizable, then I don't own them. I own the particular plot of this story and the few characters that I made up and will make up, but that is it. At least, I think it is.

**WARNING:** Another lemon. Why do I keep putting these in here even when I told you that I wouldn't? Maybe it's because they are so terrible that I want you to have a chance to skip around it if possible? Haven't really thought about it.

**IMPORTANT:** Read the author's note at the end of the chapter.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Five (I really didn't think that this story would be this long.)

They were at a desk in Kurama's apartment in a room that Kagome had never seen before, but Kagome suspected that it was his bedroom. Kagome felt heat flood through her body as she leaned closer to Kurama to look at a math problem. She couldn't really make out what he was saying; she could only listen to his voice roll over her. He dropped his pencil when a strand of her hair fell across his hand. She slowly sank to her knees and came up between his legs where she undid his pants and reached up to pull his boxers and pants down, uncovering his throbbing erection. Kagome met Kurama's gaze as she slowly bent forward to lick the tip. She heard Kurama moan her name, a drop of precum forming on the tip before she took the entire length of his erection deep into her mouth. Kurama moaned again, sank his hands into her hair, and pushed forward a little, almost as if even he wasn't able to control himself. She paused as another insistent rush of heat went through her. _She_ wanted to be in control. This was her dream. HERS! What happened was in her control. The heat got more and more intense the more she thought about it. She _would_ be the one in control. NOW!

The dream seemed to pause for a moment. Then Kagome broke through and straddled Kurama in his chair. In an instant, her clothes were gone and she sank down on his lap, not stopping until he was deeply imbedded in her. She was now in control of the dream!

Kurama tried to get her to move to the bed, but Kagome wasn't going to have it. She had finally gotten control of this dream and she was not going to give up even a little of it. She needed relief _now_! She kissed him deeply to shut him up and began to move. Faster and faster as she got closer to what she had unconsciously been searching for all day, but had been denied when he had neglected to finish what he started in her room. Together they exploded and as this happened, so did two other things. The last thing that happened was they both woke up…but not before Kurama sank his teeth deep into her neck.

* * *

Kagome bounded out of bed, her hand immediately flying to her neck. It was on fire from where Kurama had bitten it. Why had he done it? What did it mean? Kagome did the only thing that she could think of to do. She ran to the library. Sesshomaru's books were sure to have some answers as to why these things were happening to her.

Kagome ran into Sesshomaru in the hall on her way to the library. Unfortunately, she was so distraught and off balance, she let her guard down and allowed her smell to escape, causing Sesshomaru to stop in his tracks for a moment in shock and let out a low growl. He turned around and stormed after Kagome, eyes flashing red. "Why do you smell of sex and an adult male kitsune? There are none on my guard and I would know if one other than Hakurama had been on my lands. Tell me!"

Kagome couldn't believe that she had been so careless. Her only excuse was that she felt safe to let her guard down here. But that didn't get her out of the mess that she currently found herself in. "I just had a dream Sesshomaru. I suspect the kitsune that you smell is the residual essence of Kurama, the guy that my mom got to tutor me. I've been having very…intense dreams about him, ever since I first met him. I can't control them, and, until recently, I couldn't even control myself in them. Oh Sesshomaru, I don't know what's happening to me!" She flung herself into his arms. "When I woke up this morning, I felt very strange. As the day went on, it got worse. It was like all my inhibitions went away and I had almost no control over my own body! I even tried to seduce Kurama! I don't know the first thing about seduction and I would never try to do that! I rushed back here to get away from him until I could figure this thing out, but then I had another dream when I have never had one in this era. And something else happened in it and it seems to have spilled over into reality. He bit my neck and now I feel an intense throbbing where he bit me. I don't know what is going on!"

Sesshomaru got a cold look in his eyes. "He bit you? Let me see."

Kagome froze at the look in his eyes. What was he thinking? She slowly moved her hair and Sesshomaru leaned forward to inspect her neck.

He let out a menacing growl and swung around.

Kagome ran after him, really scared now. "Sesshomaru, where are you going? Come back!"

He never paused. "I am going to find this fox that dared to claim you without gaining my permission first. Then, I am going to kill him."

_Why did I have to be right!_ Kagome screamed in her head. They were now in the training yard.

"Sesshomaru, you are not going to kill Kurama! Listen to me!" Kagome flung out her hand and wrapped a confining barrier around Sesshomaru, halting his progression away from the palace. Sesshomaru stopped and started growling again. "Listen, I don't know what the deal is with this biting thing, but it isn't Kurama's fault! It was a _dream_. I was dreaming when it happened so it couldn't have anything to do with him! As I said before, I have been having dreams about him ever since we first met. I have no idea why, but they will not stop. But they have _never_ occurred here before. Things have been strange all day. If you had been listening before, then you would have known all this."

Sesshomaru immediately stopped his growling and instead looked contemplative. "Dreaming you say? Ever since you first met? Is this boy a hanyou?"

"I don't know exactly what he is. I know that he is a kitsune, but he feels human at the same time."

"Then he is a hanyou."

Kagome shook her head. "No. He feels like a full youkai _and_ like a full human. I thought that he might be like me, but the youki in his soul is much more strong and dominant than mine."

Sesshomaru nodded. "That makes sense. You have a very large soul and miko abilities to keep the youki in your soul in line. They are more like silent partners allowing you to use their powers in exchange for peace and life. And power. Nothing is more important to youkai then power and you have more than all of them together. They do not exist anymore. They are you now. Especially now that you have youkai blood in your veins."

Kagome ignored what he was saying about her for the moment. It wasn't relevant to Kurama's problem. "But sometimes I get the feeling that his two souls are fighting for dominance. And other times they seem perfectly in accord with each other. They seem to be trying to mix together but something seems to be stopping them from doing so; instead they seem to be trying to repel and subdue each other. Plus, I don't sense any holy energy coming from him, just youki and that other strange energy that I told you about. I don't think that he can take much more of this. Either they stop fighting each other or one triumphs over the other. My youkai souls and I had an agreement. I don't know if Kurama's did. Forcing one side to submit to the other may not be such a good idea."

"I agree. I will look into this and into the dream matter. Now, what were the other things that were troubling you?"

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "You really weren't listening before were you?"

"No."

Kagome rolled her eyes and continued. "I have been acting strange all day. It has been like all of my inhibitions have gone. And my skin has been so sensitive and I feel as if I can't sit still. I don't know what's wrong with me. This has never happened before."

Sesshomaru was silent for a moment. He cautiously sniffed the air and examined her eyes more closely. There was still a slight red glow to them. If he hadn't been looking for it then he wouldn't have even noticed it. "I should have anticipated this. When you absorbed mine and Inuyasha's blood, in addition to being able to control your youkai abilities, you also took on more youkai traits. You see, at certain times a female youkai has a day when she is more susceptible to…" Damn this was hard. Thank Kami he wasn't going to have to explain sex to Rin. If he was having this much trouble with such a simple thing as telling Kagome she was in heat, then he would hate to see how he would have handled that. Maybe he should just spit it out and get it over with. Surely Kagome would get the point. "Kagome, you are in heat."

"…"

"_WHAT_?!!!"

"It is when-"

"I _know _what it means you idiot! What I want to know is how I got that way and how to stop it!"

Sesshomaru decided to let her comment pass. "It is a part of your biology now. You cannot stop it until you take a mate. Even then you will have some times when you are hypersensitive, but it will be more manageable. It cannot be helped."

Kagome generally made it a policy not to complain about things that she couldn't change, but for her this was worst than when she got her period! It was like her brain was shut off. The only way to manage this thing was to lock herself up during these times. And she resolved to do just that. "How long does it last?"

Sesshomaru blinked, surprised that she was taking it this well. Considering her earlier reaction, he had expected more of an explosion. "The most intense part only lasts a day. But the day before and the day after you will experience a greater sensitivity. The rub of certain fabrics may bother you but that can be solved by wearing something smooth, like silk or satin. Nothing rough. You should be able to function almost normally during these times, now that you are aware of what is going on. And it's only once every few months, although the exact interval depends on the individual."

Kagome sighed. "Well, I guess I have no other choice then do I? I'll just have to deal with it." Kagome paused, remembering why she had left her room in the first place. "Sesshomaru, why did you react so strongly to the bite on my neck? Does it mean anything? How could a bite that I got in my dreams show up in real life?"

Sesshomaru didn't want to upset her before he was absolutely sure what was going on. "I will know more once I start looking into the matter of your dreams. I think that I have some idea as to what is going on, but it has been so long since I have heard of anything like this that I want to be sure."

"Are you going to see if you can find out anything about what is going on with Kurama's aura?"

"I will try. Get some rest or whatever it is you do when you sleep." Sesshomaru turned and strode in the direction of his library. He would get to the bottom of this. If he was right about the dreams and the mark, then maybe the fox had no idea of what he was doing. Sesshomaru might not have to kill him for doing what he had. But as to what this Kurama was and what was going on with his souls, he had no idea. He had never been really interested in souls and their workings. He might be able to avoid his paper work for an entire week, if this turned into the project that he thought that it would. Plus there were his and Kagome's training sessions. He might even be able to stretch it to a month if he was lucky.

Or he could make Inuyasha do it. On second thought, no. He wanted to have at least _some_ allies left. Maybe he should talk to Lord Hakurama. He might know something about this. After all, this 'Kurama' of Kagome's _was_ a fox.

* * *

Kurama woke up from his dream. He could still taste Kagome's blood in his mouth. His youkai fangs had yet to recede. He couldn't believe that he had done that. Thank goodness that it was just a dream. That had to be in reaction to what had happened with Kagome earlier. He was still feeling guilty. He _never_ lost control like that! Now he wasn't sure what was going on. Kagome had seemed to want him as much as he wanted her, but she still didn't smell like she was aroused. He still had all of his youkai senses. He didn't know what was wrong. Was he imagining things?

Maybe it was best not to think about it. He could find no logical explanation anyway. Kurama rolled onto his back and put his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. It was almost time to go back to Makai. That bastard Sachi was causing too much trouble; he would have to be eliminated soon.

There was also the matter of his service to Yomi. How was he to get out of it? He was not going to spend the rest of his life in Makai as Yomi's advisor. Mukuro would most definitely attack Yomi in a bid to gain control of Makai after Raizen died, which would surely be soon. He had gone through the various outcomes in his head, weighing the strengths and advantages of each, and had concluded that there was at least a 72 chance that Yomi would emerge the victor. But this would not be without cost. Yomi would most definitely be weakened. Kurama could challenge him then and kill him.

Kurama shook his head forcefully. _No! I will not be like you, Youko! He was once your friend and you had his sight taken away just to get rid of him. Instead of just kicking him out, you almost had him killed. I will not be that heartless._

_He should not have made a threat against our mother. He crossed the line first this time; it is only fitting that I join him there._ Youko said in a cold voice.

_We will find another way. I doubt it would work anyway. He would be expecting something like that after what happened last time_.

Youko growled but could not argue with his other half's logic.

Both their minds returned to the dream. Their other problems could only distract them for so long before going back to Kagome. He would have given anything to be able to do to her earlier that day what he had done in the dream. Logic told him that he shouldn't be feeling this way about someone that he didn't really know all that well. Total, he hadn't spent even a month with her. He was not the type of person to jump into something without considering all his options. But it seemed that he didn't have a choice in the matter. Kagome was in his heart to stay, whether he liked it or not. He just hoped that he could get back to Human World safely, hopefully without furry ears and a tail, and maybe patch things up with Kagome when she got back from her retreat.

* * *

Well, that was strange…

About the neck biting thing, I'm just going by what I have read in other fanfictions. I don't know if this is accurate or not but it fits with what I'm trying to accomplish in this story.

**Now for the bad news**. I think that I'm going to be putting this story on hold for a while. I need to reread it because I really can't remember all that happened and I'm sure that I will make some mistakes. I have many little angles going and they all mean something but I'm afraid that I will leave out something important if I don't get everything straight. Plus I'd like to get over a little slump with this story. I will promise you all that I will have a big update when I take this story off hold and I am _not _going to forget about this story nor is it going to be discontinued. REPEAT: IT IS NOT GOING TO BE DISCONTINUED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!! It's just that my muse hates me right now. I think she's sulking because I hardly ever have time for her anymore what with school and work. Anyway, now that I'm back from my trip from crazytown I'd like to thank all the reviewers. Can't leave that out now can we?

Again, sorry!


End file.
